


Midday and Twilight

by orphan_account



Category: Giant Robo
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-23
Updated: 2012-11-04
Packaged: 2017-11-16 21:54:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 20,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/544238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the fall of Genya, Yuuki is troubled by Koumei's plans to reinstate the GR Project.  When he reluctantly agrees to help Zangetsu with a back-up plan, the two travel to the BF Group's Tunguska base to awaken a potential ally. Still, Yuuki doesn't trust Zangetsu or his own feelings for the Midday.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Opticon is from the live action version of Giant Robo (Johnny Sokko and his Flying Robot in the US).

Yuuki the Twilight longed for the open air after spending so long enclosed that day-- first in Master Achilles' gelatinous clutches, then within the confines of the BF Group's conference room, large as it was,  as they watched Genya's pathetic failure crashing down around him.  The sun was coming up by the time the surviving members of the Magnificent Ten disbanded, tired and resentful, bristling at Koumei but none of them bold enough to challenge him outright.

 _It's ridiculous_ , Yuuki thought as he trudged outside along one of the pathways surrounding the Group's complex.  _Any one of us could snap him like a twig, but we dare not even question him too strongly-- because what if he really is an agent of Big Fire's will?_   Yuuki found it as hard to believe as the rest of them that Koumei was acting according to Big Fire's wishes-- but then Big Fire had surprised him before.

Yuuki tried to forget all that for the time being and instead to release his tension into the cool morning air.  He was normally asleep by that time, preferring to rest during the day and save his activities for the nighttime.  However, on this morning, he was far too tense to sleep.  Instead, he walked down to the water, hoping to calm himself enough to rest.

His hopes were dashed when he saw someone else already sitting in his favorite spot, perched on the decorative marble balustrade edging the balcony that overlooked the water.  The slender form was familiar-- but not as striking as the square mortarboard perched on the man's head.  Zangetsu, obviously.  Yuuki halted, frowning, then turned to follow the winding paths back inside.

But Zangetsu heard even that soft step; he looked back over his shoulder, exhaling a breath of smoke.  "Yuuki?"

Yuuki stopped and reluctantly turned back.  "I didn't mean to disturb you."

"You haven't."  Zangetsu bent his head and lifted the long stem of his pipe to his lips.  "I'm in your usual place, am I not?"

"Oh. . . ."  Yuuki blinked, surprised that the younger man had even noticed such a detail.  They never had that much to do with one another, and although Yuuki was normally keenly aware of Zangetsu's movements, he hadn't imagined that Zangetsu would reciprocate.  "It's no matter," Yuuki finally muttered.  "It's past my bedtime."

"Hmm."  Zangetsu's mouth twitched in a smile around the pipe.  "You're very strange, you know?"

Yuuki's eyes narrowed.  He was used to being teased-- even Kawarazaki ribbed him good-naturedly-- but coming from Zangetsu, it felt offensive.  That smart aleck little smile of his probably had something to do with it.

"None of us is exactly ordinary," Yuuki growled, his normally gravelly voice deepening.  Deciding not to relinquish his place so easily, he went to the balustrade and leaned forward with his hands braced on the cold, smooth marble.  Zangetsu, now a few feet to Yuuki's left, continued to smoke although he shifted to face Yuuki more directly.

"Don't be offended," Zangetsu said in between breaths of smoke.  His voice was as soft and smooth as the sinuous trail rising from his lips.  "You can't expect the midday to understand the twilight without a little help."  He exhaled a final time then tipped the ashes from his pipe into the water.  Even then, he still held the pipe delicately between his gloved fingers, though his attention was now focused on Yuuki.

"Your time would be better spent trying to understand Koumei," Yuuki retorted, discomfited by Zangetsu's gaze from behind his mask.  "I believe that's something none of us has yet accomplished."

Zangetsu sighed, running the pipe stem slowly up and down between his fingertips.  "That was a weak attempt at changing the subject, Yuuki. . . but you make a good point.  Genya is out of the way now, but Koumei has become even more troublesome."

Despite his irritation at the young man, Yuuki was curious to know more of his thoughts on Koumei.  He looked around them then leaned closer to his companion.  "Zangetsu, do you believe that he is really acting upon the will of Big Fire?"

"Hmm."  Zangetsu lifted his pipe to his lips and mouthed the tip, as if forgetting that he had emptied it.  "I'm not certain, but I doubt it.  Otherwise, why would Koumei force that poor little girl of Alberto's to dress up?  Why would Big Fire himself not appear to us?"  He shook his head and raised his unreadable eyes to meet Yuuki's gaze.

"My thoughts exactly," Yuuki breathed.  "If Hanzui hadn't recognized her--"  
  
"But there's still a problem," Zangetsu interrupted, pulling his pipe from his mouth and waving it in front of Yuuki's long nose.  "Koumei was then protecting Genya-- or rather, ensuring that Genya would follow his own destructive course.  Perhaps that wasn't part of Big Fire's plan, but Koumei might still be telling the truth about reinstating the GR Project."

Yuuki scowled in annoyance at being interrupted.  "I've come to doubt that the Tactician will _ever_ tell the complete truth until the day the truth is to his advantage."

Zangetsu smirked and leaned still farther forward, until his eyes were inches from Yuuki's.  "And will you be the next of the Magnificent Ten to openly challenge him and risk disobeying Big Fire?  I'm even faster than you are, and I wouldn't wager that _I_ could outrun Big Fire's wrath."

"You know I wouldn't," muttered Yuuki.  "None of us would."  He looked away from Zangetsu, though he still did not draw back.  "Ultimately, only Alberto the Impact challenged Koumei's will."

"Mmn.  And his sacrifice cannot help us with this new problem."  Zangetsu sighed.

"I hate being in this position," Yuuki said, clenching his fist on the balustrade, "sitting idle at Koumei's beck and call while the IPO can regroup at their leisure!"  He hadn't meant to express himself so freely to Zangetsu; Yuuki decided that his exhaustion must be getting the better of his sense.

"Heh."  Zangetsu smiled, a little grimly.  "Kawarazaki was right that time when he told me how eager you always are to fight.  And to think I didn't believe him!"

 _When did he talk to Kawarazaki about **me**?_ Yuuki wondered, studying Zangetsu's face suspiciously.  But that question would betray too much curiosity.  Instead, he asked, "Why didn't you believe him?"

"You look so tired all the time," Zangetsu shrugged.  "Who knew that you were really this energetic?"  He smiled again and reached out his gloved hand to trail his fingers down one of the long strands of hair hanging in front of Yuuki's ears.  "If you'll save that energy for when we _can_ strike, Koumei will suffer indeed."

Yuuki felt his cheeks grow warm, and he drew his head back, trying to pull away.  "Zangetsu, stop it."

"Hm."  Zangetsu let Yuuki's hair slip from his fingers, then he sat back as well.  "Sorry, Yuuki, I don't mean to impose.  I'll leave you to your place here."  The younger man stood and straightened his jacket, then he looked down at Yuuki.  "But I'll be watching Koumei closely, as I'm sure you will be. . . and I think I know how we could work together."

"How?" Yuuki demanded, but Zangetsu had already turned and was walking back towards the path.  He raised one slender hand and waved it dismissively without looking back.

"Another time," Zangetsu called.  Yuuki glared after him in frustration, which grew when he found his eyes drifting down to follow the swing of Zangetsu's narrow hips as he walked away.

_What does he have in mind-- and why didn't he mention it sooner?_

\--

Yuuki slept deeply that day after all, not awaking until twilight had settled over the BF Group's complex.  As he showered and dressed for dinner, Yuuki thought back to his conversation at dawn.

 _If Koumei does reinstate the GR Project, what choice will we have but to participate?  Until Big Fire appears, we have no way of knowing what is truly his will._   Yuuki scowled into the spray of hot water hitting his face.  _And even then, how will we know that it is truly our master before us, and not some other decoy?_

He turned his back on the spray , letting the water run over his stooped shoulders.  _And what did Zangetsu mean about us working together?  Hanzui told us he was in charge of the initial GR Project. . . but what does that have to do with me?  Why would he want to confide in **me**?_   Yuuki tilted his head back with a groan as the water soaked into his shaggy hair and coursed down his back.  It warmed his pale skin like gloved fingers trailing down his spine.

 _Zangetsu_. . . .

After dressing, Yuuki walked alone through the complex, towards the room where the Magnificent Ten dined.  Koumei never showed his face there, and usually only some of the Ten were present.  _And now we are only seven,_ Yuuki remembered.  _Alberto has joined Cervantes now, and Fitzgerald is gone as well._   That last death seemed such a waste to Yuuki.  How could Fitzgerald have perished as a mere side effect of the Vogler woman's powers?

When Yuuki entered the dining room, only two were there-- Hanzui and Zangetsu.  They were seated in their usual places side by side, talking in quiet murmurs which fell silent when Yuuki entered.  Yuuki felt a familiar flare of jealousy in his chest, as he always did when he saw those two together.  _Hanzui has had a soft spot for him since Zangetsu joined us. . . and perhaps that is how he became one of the Magnificent Ten._

Yuuki took his own chair across from Hanzui; Kawarazaki, who usually sat beside his protégé, was often late to meals.  After two masked members of the complex's staff had already served the first course of their meal, the old man came hurrying in.

"Pardon me," Kawarazaki said out of habit as he sat by Yuuki.  While the staff brought him the same soup they had served the others, Kawarazaki looked up at Hanzui.

"How is Sunny?" the old man asked.

Hanzui's face settled into a pained look.  "Not well.  She is devastated.  She has spent all day in her room and won't see even me."

"Poor child."  Kawarazaki stirred his soup and sighed.  "She has always borne too large a burden for her age.  You are her family now, Hanzui."

"Yes."  Hanzui drained a spoonful of soup but then laid down the utensil and looked away from the others.  "I promised Alberto long ago-- after Cervantes's death, as a matter of fact-- that I would take care of her should something happen to him.  I love the girl, but I cannot replace her father.  Not even Cervantes could have done that."

"You will do the best for her," Zangetsu spoke for the first time since Yuuki had entered.  "Alberto knew that."  He smiled faintly at Hanzui, and Yuuki looked down at his soup.

Juujoji joined them halfway through the meal, but Doki and Mask the Red did not appear.  That was usual; they and Fitzgerald had preferred their own company to that of the others.  The five now gathered ate most of the meal in quiet, save for an occasional murmured question or comment.  None of them mentioned Koumei or the GR Project, but Yuuki doubted he was the only one with those topics on his mind.

It was only when they were served coffee-- or tea in the case of Zangetsu and Juujoji-- after the meal that Zangetsu broached the subject.

"So.  How shall we prepare for the reinitialization of the GR Project?" The others looked at him with surprise.

"Zangetsu, perhaps this is not the time."  Hanzui lifted his coffee cup with a significant look to all of them.  _Koumei could be anywhere_ , it said.

"Why not?"  Zangetsu's voice was as smooth as the cream Yuuki had poured into his coffee.  "We should be ready to follow our master Big Fire's orders as soon as he gives them."

Yuuki looked up at the younger man with suspicion.  _What's he after?  He failed Big Fire with the GR Project the first time. . . .  Why is he so eager to take it on again?  To prove his worth to us?_

"Yes, we should," said Kawarazaki said thoughtfully.  "We can presume that Koumei speaks of reclaiming Giant Robo for the BF Group.  But I do not understand how that is connected to Koumei's previous plan to throw the world back into darkness."  His eyes focused directly on Zangetsu.  "Do you have any other knowledge of what this new form of the project will entail?"

Juujoji and Hanzui exchanged nervous looks, but Zangetsu only shook his head.  The beads hanging from the corners of his mortarboard swayed.

"No, Kawarazaki.  I know nothing but what Koumei said to all of us."  Zangetsu turned to Yuuki.  "What do you think, Yuuki?  How shall we prepare?"

Yuuki met Zangetsu's blank eyes with his own gaze.  "I do not know."

"We will discuss this at another time," Hanzui said, setting down his cup with a clatter that ended the discussion.  "I believe we all need some rest."

"Yes."  Kawarazaki finished his coffee as well and stood.  "Our forces worldwide must take time to recuperate and replenish their supplies.  Neither Big Fire nor Koumei will be able to move right away."  He nodded to the others.  "Good evening, gentlemen."  Last he turned a slight smile down to Yuuki.  "Good night, Yuuki."

"Good night."  As he sometimes did, Yuuki felt as if his only ally was gone once Kawarazaki left the room.  He left most of his coffee behind when he excused himself as well and escaped outdoors. Once there, however, Yuuki breathed a sigh that released some of his tension.  Most times, he felt more comfortable outside than within.

He avoided his spot by the water and instead walked into the edge of the woods surrounding the complex.  It was darker there under the trees, but Yuuki's eyes were well adapted to dim light.  He pressed two fingertips to his lips and whistled softly-- not the whistle which summoned his fighting insects, but a gentler sound.  
  
After a moment, summoned by the notes of his power, a swirl of moths descended upon the spot where Yuuki stood.  They were sphinx moths, his favorites with their plump bodies and wings that whirred loud as a hummingbird's.  The moths zipped past his face in a buzz of air, then Yuuki held out his arms and waited.  The moths' confusion at finding themselves drawn to a human faded into acceptance, and they began to land on his arms and shoulders.

Yuuki tilted his head back and let out a soft breath of air, barely audible.  A few of the bolder moths fluttered to his face.  Their wings brushed his cheeks, dusting them with scales and the softest of touches.  Yuuki closed his eyes and stood still while the most intrepid moth beat its wings against his lips.

He found peace there communing with the moths, but their caresses drew his thoughts toward the source of his consternation.  No human touch had ever fallen upon Yuuki's face, but he imagined Zangetsu's gloved fingers there now. . . Zangetsu's lips where the moth's wings had found Yuuki's mouth.  Yuuki's breath grew a bit sharper, the air whistling between his teeth and causing the moths on his arms to stir.  He stood with his back slightly arched, face to the branches above him, and the sphinx moths fluttered in response to his quickening heartbeat.

But then they all rose at once in a cloud; something else had disturbed them.  Yuuki turned sharply in the swarm of moths to see Zangetsu himself standing some yards away, just at the tree line.  The two men stared at one another until Zangetsu moved forward, not with his usual saunter but almost reverently.

"I'm sorry," he said.  He held his pipe between two fingers, and he lifted it to his mouth as he walked closer to Yuuki.  "I did not mean to frighten them."

"Why did you come here?" Yuuki asked as the moths dispersed, escaping Zangetsu's presence.  _Why do you keep turning up where I don't want you to intrude?_

"I followed you."  Zangetsu shrugged and drew on his pipe, then he released the smoke from softly parted lips.  "There was something I said I'd explain to you."

"Not now."  Yuuki turned away from him and looked into the depths of the forest.  "I do not wish to speak of the GR Project."

"Yuuki, we must."  To Yuuki's infinite frustration, Zangetsu moved around him, into his line of vision.  "I believe Kawarazaki is wrong on this matter: Koumei will not wait for the BF Group to recover.  He likes to catch us off guard, and he will reinitiate the project soon, before anyone is ready."

"But why come to _me_ about it?" retorted Yuuki.

"You heard the others at dinner!" Zangetsu seemed truly agitated, but he calmed with another draw from his pipe.  "Hanzui and Juujoji will not speak of it.  Kawarazaki wants to wait.  And as for the others. . . ."  He made a soft scoffing sound in his throat.  "I do not trust them.  Fitzgerald's death was too suspicious."

Yuuki gritted his teeth and turned his head away once more, causing the strands of hair at his ears to sway.  "Zangetsu, you're paranoid.  He was killed by the power of Vogler's daughter.  We are lucky Red and Doki were not lost as well.  And as for the GR Project-- it was _your_ responsibility, and your failure.  If you're trying to redeem yourself in the eyes of Big Fire or-- or Hanzui, do not involve _me_!"

"Yuuki, you stubborn ass, look at me!"  Zangetsu grasped Yuuki by the chin and turned the older man's face back to his.  Yuuki felt heat blaze in his cheeks, and he hoped that weakness would not show in the dark woods.

"This has nothing to do with me," hissed Zangetsu.  "It is for the good of the BF Group and our lord Big Fire that I wish to act.  I would gladly accept the blame of failure all over again if I knew his vision would come to pass.  However, with Koumei acting as intermediary, Big Fire's will can be manipulated and corrupted before it reaches us.  We have already seen that-- and we cannot afford to let it happen again."

Zangetsu relented and let go of Yuuki's chin, but two of his fingers brushed the older man's jaw.  The touch was tantalizing, exactly what Yuuki had imagined moments before.

"I know you have suspicions about me. . . all of you do," Zangetsu said more softly.  "But why do you concern yourself with Hanzui's opinion?  Let me prove myself to you first, Yuuki."

Despite his claim that Zangetsu was the paranoid one, Yuuki could not bring himself to trust the younger man.  _He could be teasing me again-- or using me.  If he knows what he does to me, he could be taking advantage of that. . . ._   Yuuki didn't understand how Zangetsu _could_ know, but the doubt remained all the same.

Yuuki forced himself to speak coldly.  "And how would you do that, Zangetsu?"

"Let me tell you my own plans for the GR Project."  The gloved hand moved to trail through a strand of Yuuki's hair, then it dropped to Zangetsu's side.

"You trust me enough?"

"Yes.  I trust you, Yuuki."  The words undid some of Yuuki's resolve, and he nodded.

"All right, then. Tell me what you propose to do."

\--

To be continued


	2. Chapter 2

"Are we alone here?" Zangetsu asked before he explained anything.

"Yes.  I know this area well."  Yuuki looked up into the trees.  "I can sense an intruder immediately. . . ."  He brought his eyes back down to Zangetsu.  "As you have seen."

"Mmn."  Zangetsu smiled.  "Don't get cocky-- your friends gave me away."

Yuuki felt a faint smile come to his own lips, unbidden.  "Well, if you take them into consideration, we are not really alone. . . but they will not tell any secrets."  He moved deeper into the trees, gesturing for Zangetsu to follow until he came to a tree with low, forking branches where Yuuki sometimes sat for hours.

"Here."  He sat down in one fork.  Zangetsu jumped lightly into the tree and sat just above Yuuki, so that the older man's head was level with his chest.  He was silent as he relit his pipe, but then he looked down at Yuuki and spoke.

"My concern, Yuuki, comes from our own robots.  You saw what happened when we last called them forth-- Vogler's Eye rendered them useless."

"Yes, but the Eye is gone now," Yuuki pointed out.  "And our engineers are even now upgrading the lot of them to draw more efficiently on the new Shizuma system."  
  
Zangetsu waved a glove hand at him impatiently and drew from his pipe.  "Of course, but who is to say that Koumei won't try such a scheme again?"

"What would be Koumei's purpose in doing such a thing?" protested Yuuki.  "Without our own robots, how shall the BF Group overcome GR-1?"

"His purpose is to subdue _us_ , the Magnificent Ten."  Zangetsu closed his eyes and lowered his pipe as he let a trail of smoke escape his pursed lips.  Yuuki watched his mouth until he spoke again.  "I do not know how he plans to continue the GR Project without us, but I do not doubt that he is willing to try."

"Then what is your proposal, Zangetsu?" said Yuuki, growing impatient with his companion's secrecy.

"We must have a backup plan. . . one that is secret from Koumei, and yes, from our lord Big Fire himself-- for I do not trust any means of communication which Koumei might intercept."  Zangetsu finished his pipe and tipped the ashes out, then used it to gesture to Yuuki.  "We must have weapons which cannot be rendered powerless."

Yuuki thought about this for a moment; he had to admit Zangetsu made sense.  "Are you speaking of a backup power system for our robots?  We know that GR-1 runs on nuclear power, but--"

"No," Zangetsu interrupted, earning a scowl from Yuuki.  "It would be impossible for us to alter our machines on such a grand scale without Koumei learning of it.  I'm speaking of a comparable secret weapon which does not run on power at all-- an organic being."

"What?"  Yuuki raised up from his seat, leaning halfway up the branch leading to Zangetsu.  "An organic being as powerful as Giant Robo?"

"Yes!"  Zangetsu bent downward, closer to Yuuki.  "Don't you see?  Koumei will not be able to stop it through his trickery-- and the Magnificent Ten will not be left unprepared."

"And just where will we find a. . . a monster like this?"

"We already have."  Zangetsu smiled down at him with the pride of a magician performing his grandest trick.  "Yuuki, do you remember Opticon?"

"Opticon. . . ."  Yuuki's eyes widened.  "What do you know about Opticon?  You weren't one of the Magnificent Ten then. . . ."

"Who do you think led the team that captured it?  When that alien monster attacked the BF Group's base in Tunguska, it was my men who put Opticon in stasis.  It still sleeps there, underground. . . and I intend to revive it."

"You're mad, Zangetsu."  Yuuki looked away from the younger man.  He remembered well Opticon's attack. . . and Big Fire's insistence that the extraterrestrial creature not be killed.  It was strange how tender-hearted the boy could be. . . .  "That thing tried to destroy our base, and you want to. . . to wake it back up?  It would kill us all!"

"Not if we can convince it to join us," said Zangetsu.  "That is why I need you, Yuuki."

Yuuki's eyes cut back to Zangetsu's.  "How am _I_ supposed to reason with an alien life form?"

"With your powers, Yuuki."  Zangetsu reached down and flicked at one of Yuuki's strands of hair.  "You have a bond with living things that I lack.  True, I can bend the elements to my will. . . but only you can speak with nature's children."

"I speak with insects, Zangetsu.  Not. . . things like Opticon."

Zangetsu's smile seemed almost tender.  "It isn't only insects, is it?  I watched you just now. . . I've _been_ watching you.  You prefer the open air to the comforts of our complex.  You grow restless when you're kept indoors. . . and you have a tenderness for plants and animals that must have caused some to misjudge your capacity for battle.  I know you can command the insects. . . but I believe you can _convince_ Opticon.  It is a living creature after all, whatever else it is."

_How do you know so much about me?_ Yuuki wondered.  _Why have you been watching me. . . and how can you know what I feel?_

"It won't listen to me," he said aloud, still staring up at Zangetsu.  "Even if it can understand me without words, the way insects do. . . ."

"I think it will," Zangetsu repeated.  "You can be very convincing, Yuuki."

_And you can be so very seductive, Zangetsu._   Yuuki looked down at the tree branch and found his own hands clenched around it, his nails dug into the wood.  _He could be using me, playing me as easily as Koumei played Genya._ However, another thought occurred to Yuuki.  _But he is right about us needing a failsafe in the GR Project.  And perhaps this venture is safer than I thought.  We can awaken Opticon in a secured environment and return it to stasis if it will not cooperate.  But if it **will** listen. . . it will be listening to **me**.  Zangetsu would not be able to cross me then. . . ._

"All right," Yuuki said and turned back to Zangetsu.  "I will do what you ask.  How will we proceed?"

"I want us to fly to Tunguska tomorrow," said Zangetsu, "but I do not want the others to know where we are going.  I know a pilot whom I can trust, so we can leave secretly."

"And you think no one will be suspicious when we disappear together?"

Zangetsu shrugged.  "If we're questioned on our return, we'll say we were inspecting the base in Moscow.  It's under my jurisdiction after all.  But Yuuki, we members of the Magnificent Ten aren't obligated to explain ourselves."

"That won't stop the others from wondering," muttered Yuuki.  "Especially since you and I never work together."

"And why does it matter what the others think, Yuuki?"  Zangetsu spoke in a softer tone.  "Let them believe what they want.  When we reveal Opticon, they will understand our need for secrecy.  And perhaps. . . we'll work together again after this."

"We'll see," Yuuki murmured.

"Mmn."  Zangetsu nodded.  "I should get some rest so we can leave early tomorrow.  But first. . . will you do something for me, Yuuki?"

"What. . . ?"

"Will you call the moths back?"  The younger man gestured a slender hand in the air about them.  "Or will they come with me here?"

"They will come, if you're still.  But why do you want them?"  
  
Zangetsu shrugged but tempered the gesture with a smile.  "I want to see your powers, Yuuki."

That didn't alleviate Yuuki's suspicions of Zangetsu's motives, yet he was flattered nevertheless.  He looked away from Zangetsu and brought two fingers to his mouth.  Yuuki blew on them to call again the moths.  At first there was no response, and he tried once more, closing his eyes and speaking to them through his power.  Without words, he called them with assurances that Zangetsu's presence was not a cause for alarm.

One by one, the moths gathered.  They did not come as easily as before, perhaps sensing Yuuki's nervousness around Zangetsu.  However, some finally landed on Yuuki's shoulders and hair as others hovered around his head.

Zangetsu looked up at them with wonder on his face.  "They're exquisite, Yuuki.  I didn't know moths could grow so large."

"Some do.  These are sphinx moths."  Yuuki was watching Zangetsu instead of the insects.  The younger man reached up his gloved hand to one in the air near Yuuki's head, but the moth darted away.  Zangetsu then leaned forward to extend a finger to a moth perched on Yuuki's arm.  The moth flicked its wings and haughtily ignored him.

"They won't land on me," Zangetsu observed.

"You have to convince them."  Yuuki made a soft whistling noise between his teeth, and more moths settled on him.

"But I can't whistle."  Zangetsu gave an apologetic smile.  "Besides, I lack your power."

"You don't need my power just to talk to them," said Yuuki.  "And I can teach you how to whistle.  Just put your fingers to your mouth like this," he demonstrated, "and blow."

Zangetsu put his gloved fingertips against his lips but with no results.  "It's hopeless for me, Yuuki."

"You're just doing it wrong."  Yuuki was growing a little impatient with him.  "You have to hold them close together-- and it probably won't work with gloves."

"Why don't you show me how to do it, then?"

"I just did!"  Yuuki raked a hand through his shaggy hair.

"No, I mean. . . ."  Zangetsu shifted and lowered himself onto the branch beside Yuuki.  Yuuki tensed at their proximity, but he froze when Zangetsu grasped his hand and lifted it.

"Show me just how to hold my fingers," the younger man said, and he brought Yuuki's hand to his face.  Zangetsu placed Yuuki's fingertips upon his mouth.  "Like this?" he murmured, his breath warm against Yuuki's fingers.

Yuuki could hardly speak through the choking sensation that rose in his throat.  "N-no, like. . . like this."  He shifted his fingers until both his second and third fingertips rested against Zangetsu's lips, which felt smooth and slightly moist.  "Now blow," Yuuki rasped.

Zangetsu's mouth pursed slightly under Yuuki's touch, then he blew against Yuuki's fingers.  A slight whistling sounded, and the moths on Yuuki stirred.  Zangetsu stopped, took a breath, and blew again.  This time, some of the moths lifted from Yuuki's shoulders and hovered around the younger man before landing on his arms and mortarboard instead.

"They like your hat," said Yuuki weakly.  He would have withdrawn his fingers, but Zangetsu still held his hand in place.

"So do they trust me now?"  Zangetsu's mouth moved behind Yuuki's fingers, and Yuuki could feel him smile.

"Give them a little more time."  Yuuki's eyes moved over the moths before settling on  Zangetsu's face.  "But they seem comfortable with you so far."

"Mmn."  Zangetsu closed his eyes and parted his lips against Yuuki's fingertips.  "Yuuki. . . ."  His breath hissed over Yuuki's fingers, and Yuuki heard the beating of a new pair of wings.  He looked up at a pale green luna moth fluttering down from the tree branches.  It was the largest moth of its kind he had ever seen.

"Zangetsu," Yuuki whispered.  The younger man's eyes followed Yuuki's gaze as the moth glided towards them.  It came to rest on the edge of Zangetsu's mortarboard, where it fanned its wings in and out in a leisurely way.

"It's a luna moth."  Yuuki finally let his hand drop from Zangetsu's lips.  "It was drawn to you and not me."

Zangetsu smiled and put his hands to his head, then he lifted off his hat and held it in front of him where he could regard the moth.  Yuuki gazed at Zangetsu's bare head with amazement; he had never known the younger man to remove his hat before anyone.  Zangetsu's hair was dark, possibly a deep brown although it was hard to judge colors in the night of the forest.  It was cut short with a prominent widow's peak in the middle of his forehead.  
  
Zangetsu met Yuuki's eyes over the moth.  "I called it?"

"Yes."  Yuuki was able to answer Zangetsu's smile.  "You are the Midday Moon, after all, and it is a child of the moon. . . ."

"Thank you, Yuuki, for sharing your powers with me."  Zangetsu put his hat back on, moth included.  "They are beautiful."

Yuuki flushed for a second time and looked down at a sphinx moth clinging to the sleeve of his suit.  "You should go sleep, Zangetsu.  Where shall we meet tomorrow?"

Zangetsu stood, twisting his hips to stretch each long leg.  "I will come to your rooms in the morning. . . early.  Perhaps you should rest as well, even if you did sleep all day.  We do not know what tomorrow will bring."

Yuuki nodded; that was one truth he had come to believe.  "All right."  He looked up at the younger man.  "Good night, Zangetsu."

"Good night, Yuuki."  Zangetsu lifted a gloved hand in farewell before turning and walking back towards the complex.  The luna moth clung to him until he reached the edge of the trees, then it launched itself back in the air and disappeared into the forest.

Yuuki stayed alone in his tree for some time, but eventually, he went back to his rooms and tried to sleep.  However, instead of sleeping, he could only lie awake on his back with his eyes fixed on the dark ceiling.  He tried to think of Opticon and how he might converse with it. . . he tried to plan what he could tell Kawarazaki when he returned from Tunguska.  But his mind kept returning to Zangetsu: not his plans for Opticon but his communion with the moths.

_He wanted to see my powers. . . to judge my strength?_   Yuuki's eyes, adapted to the dark, picked out every swirling knothole of the wooden ceiling above him.  _Then he said they were beautiful. . . ._   A strained noise, very like the whistle which called the insects, came from Yuuki's mouth.  His fingertips burned where they had rested against Zangetsu's lips, where the younger man's breath had caressed them.

Yuuki brought them up and pressed them against his own mouth as he held his eyes closed and hoped for sleep.

\--

To be continued


	3. Chapter 3

Yuuki awoke before dawn the next morning.  He lay still for the moment it took to remember why he was in bed during the night, then the answer settled on him heavily.

_Zangetsu_.

As he rose and began to dress, Yuuki's nerves threatened to fail him.  He was still satisfied with the plan to awaken and recruit Opticon. . . but it was his companion he feared.  Yuuki knew little about Zangetsu; in fact, only Hanzui and Kawarazaki were said to know the masked man's true identity.  Yuuki had often been tempted to question Kawarazaki about it, but of course that would have gone against protocol.  And besides, Yuuki didn't want the old man to know that he had an interest in Zangetsu at all.

Yuuki drew a comb through his shaggy hair, not looking at his reflection in the dimly lit mirror.  Even if Hanzui and the others trusted Zangetsu implicitly, Yuuki was suspicious of his motives for traveling to Tunguska in such secrecy.  And then, he didn't trust himself to be alone with the younger man for so long. . . .

His thoughts were interrupted by a soft tap on Yuuki's door.  Yuuki opened the door a sliver and saw Zangetsu's masked face peering back at him.

"Good morning," Zangetsu greeted him softly.  "Are you ready?"

"Yes."  Yuuki took up a bag of clothing and followed the younger man through the halls of the BF Group's complex.  No one else was about, as usually Yuuki was the only one awake at that hour.  He walked a bit behind Zangetsu, watching the measured steps of his slender frame.

Zangetsu lead him down to the underground hangar which housed the Magnificent Ten's private aircraft.  Like Yuuki, the younger man carried a bag, presumably filled with warm clothes for the colder region of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, where the BF Group's Tunguska Base was located.  Yuuki had never been there himself, but he knew it by reputation: a small base established below ground near the site of the 1908 Tunguska Event.  The BF Group maintained the base almost solely as a weapons repository. . . but it was also home to the sleeping Opticon.

"Did you speak to anyone else last night?" Zangetsu murmured, slowing his steps so that Yuuki was forced to fall in beside him.

"No.  And I still don't know how I'll explain this to Kawarazaki. . . or the rest of the Magnificent Ten," Yuuki returned.  "They will never believe that we went to check on the Moscow Base, especially just now."

"They won't question us," Zangetsu replied with conviction.  Yuuki kept his eyes focused on the floor ahead of them.

In the hangar, a black-masked pilot had a small Cessna waiting for them.  Zangetsu nodded his thanks and instructed the pilot, "Follow the route I gave you last night."  
  
"Shall I alert the Tunguska Base that you will be arriving, sir?" the pilot asked.

"No.  Just request landing clearance when you get within range."  Zangetsu gestured for Yuuki to precede him into the plane.  Like all of the Magnificent Ten's private vehicles, the airplane was luxurious, despite its small size.  There were four cushioned, reclining seats inside, two facing one another on each side of the cabin.  Yuuki sank into one of the forward-facing seats, which was upholstered with deep blue velvet.  He expected Zangetsu to sit on the other side of the cabin's aisle, but instead, the younger man sat in the seat facing Yuuki's after stowing their luggage in bins overhead.

"The flight will take a few hours," Zangetsu commented as the plane began to taxi forward.  Yuuki looked out of the window between them, watching the walls of the hangar give way to the dimly-lit outdoors while the plane rolled up above ground.  "If you prefer to sleep, I won't disturb you."

"No, I slept enough last night."  Yuuki finally looked at Zangetsu straight on as a thought occurred to him.  "How do you plan for me to approach Opticon?  It will have to be brought out of stasis for me to communicate with it-- but it must be restrained."

"Of course.  Yuuki, I would not ask you to put yourself in any danger."  Zangetsu took his pipe from his jacket then paused in his motions.  "Do you mind if I smoke?"  When Yuuki shook his head, the younger man proceeded to fill the pipe from a small box he kept in his pocket.  "My idea was to have Opticon remain under partial sedation, so that it will remain calm.  However, we will keep it physically restrained, as well."

"All right."  Yuuki turned back to the window in time to see the sky flare red as the sun crept over the horizon.  _At yesterday's dawn, I didn't expect I'd end up **here**. . . flying to Siberia alone with him. . . ._

"It's lovely, isn't it?"  Zangetsu's face too was turned to the window, the red light casting a glow on his masked face.  "Naturally, I prefer the moonlight, but the sunrise does have its appeal."

"Mmn."  Yuuki's eyes moved over Zangetsu's profile.  "It does, in its way."

They spoke little for the rest of the flight.  Yuuki kept his eyes on the window and his thoughts on Opticon, planning his approach to communication with the monster.  Zangetsu smoked, mostly, and when he raised his pipe to his lips, Yuuki remembered his own fingers in the same place the night before.

The pilot brought them to the Tunguska Base without incident, landing on a small air strip outside the base's hangar.  Zangetsu ordered the pilot to remain on the base until the Magnificent Ten members were ready to return to headquarters, then Zangetsu and Yuuki walked past the hangar into the base's complex.  The Siberian cold seeped into Yuuki's clothing in just those few minutes.  The area was bleak as well as frigid; part of the taiga, it was blanketed with coniferous and evergreen trees, and, at that time of year, it was icy.  There were insects, Yuuki could sense, but not his familiar and beloved moths.  He felt a pervading loneliness, and Zangetsu's company did nothing to ease it.

Big Fire underlings scattered when the two entered the complex.  As Zangetsu had requested, the base had not been notified of their arrival; even after the pilot requested permission to land, word had not yet spread that two members of the Magnificent Ten had come to Tunguska.  At the end of a long hallway as desolate as the landscape outside, they were intercepted by a red-masked BF commander.

"Sirs, welcome to the base," he said.  His nasally voice sounded steady enough, but Yuuki could see from his eyes that he was as nervous as the rest of them.  "May I assist you?"

Zangetsu tugged Yuuki's bag from his hand then presented it with his own to the commander.  "I assume this base has rooms reserved for the Magnificent Ten's use."

The commander took the suitcases but stammered, "Ah, sir, this is a small base.  We have one suite, but--"

"Fine, have someone take our bags there," interrupted Zangetsu.  "We have more important things to attend to.  We wish to see Opticon."

"Op-Opticon?"  The commander nearly dropped their bags.  "Sir, with all due respect, what. . . what's going on?"

Growing impatient, Yuuki said, "Do what he says!  Give those to someone, and take us to Opticon."

The commander apparently found Yuuki more frightening than he did Zangetsu, for he finally obeyed.  "Yes, sir.  Please follow me."  He led them through a set of double doors at the end of the hall into a control room filled with lower ranking, black-masked soldiers.  After dumping the bags off on one of these, the commander took the Magnificent Ten members to a bank of monitors at the back of the room.  The soldier who sat there jumped to his feet when he saw Zangetsu and Yuuki.

"They wish to see Opticon," the commander murmured, low enough to prevent the others in the room from overhearing.  The soldier's eyes widened, but he at least had the sense not to question his superior.

"Yes, sir."  The soldier turned to his station and pulled up a microphone.  As he murmured into it, the commander looked back at Zangetsu and Yuuki with a nervous expression.  After dealing almost exclusively with the other Magnificent Ten for the past few months, Yuuki rather enjoyed being treated with some respect.

The soldier hung up his microphone with a click.  "All right, you have clearance," he said to the commander, who nodded and motioned for Zangetsu and Yuuki to follow him through a door just past the monitor bank.  It led to another corridor, but this one sloped downward, leading them underground.

"We have Opticon secured beneath the base," the commander explained as they walked.  "It is kept under deep sedation, besides being physically restrained."

"How quickly can it be brought out of sedation?" Yuuki asked.

"Out of. . . sir!" gasped the commander.

"Answer him," said Zangetsu.

"I, I am not sure of the exact amount of time," the flustered commander said.  "But I would estimate thirty minutes to an hour with the administration of drugs to counteract the sedative."

"What about to a state of partial awareness?" Yuuki went on.  "We will need it to be conscious, but. . . drowsy, shall we say."

"I'm sorry, but I don't know, sir.  We'll reach Opticon in a moment, and I can call the scientist in charge of its care."

_Perhaps just half an hour will be long enough,_ Yuuki thought as the commander stopped them at a heavy door at the end of the corridor.  The red-hooded man input data into a lock pad then opened the door and held it for the Magnificent Ten members.  _I can test my ability to communicate with Opticon. . . and see how willing it is to cooperate._   Yuuki did not have high hopes that Zangetsu's plan would work-- but he was becoming more intrigued nevertheless.  In fact, he felt something like excitement when the commander took them out on a catwalk extending into the next room.

The catwalk circled the perimeter of the entire domed room, which was about the size of the Magnificent Ten's conference room.  Yuuki faced inward and  braced his hands on the catwalk's metal handrail.  The three of them now hung at least a story above the chamber where Opticon slept.

Yuuki could see only the silvery metal of what looked to be the room's floor, until the commander manipulated some buttons on a control panel.  Then the "floor" parted and slid back from the middle of the room, revealing the horizontal form of Opticon beneath another panel, this of shatterproof glass.

Neither Yuuki nor Zangetsu expressed any reaction to Opticon's appearance.  Zangetsu of course had seen it before, and Yuuki had viewed enough photos and diagrams to know what to expect.  Opticon's body was an ovoid pod, its khaki skin wrinkled and crossed with veins.  A crown of spikes adorned its top, and more spikes sprouted from its back.  Stringy tentacles hung down from the pod when the creature hovered upright; now, though, they drooped below it in the cell where Opticon slept.

"Call your scientists now," Zangetsu told the commander.  "I want them to awaken Opticon to a state of conscious sedation.  We will wait here."

The commander gave him a bleak look from beneath the red hood.  "Yes sir."  After he returned to the room's entrance to use a telephone there, Zangetsu turned to Yuuki.

"When it is conscious, you will try to communicate with it?"

Yuuki nodded.  "My plan for today is simply to. . . well, befriend it, for want of a better word.  It must be able to trust me before I ask for its help."

"I understand."  Zangetsu glanced up to where the commander was still on the phone, then he looked back at Yuuki.  "Yuuki, be careful."

Yuuki blinked at him.  "I will, Zangetsu. . . . Thank you."  Zangetsu smiled but said no more as the commander returned.

"The scientists are on their way to Opticon's cell," he announced.  "They say it will take twenty to thirty minutes for it to reach the state of consciousness you desire.  Will you wait here?"  
  
"Yes."  Zangetsu reached into his coat and produced his pipe.  "Send someone up to let us know when it is time."

They waited in silence, Zangetsu smoking, until one of the base's scientists joined them on the catwalk and informed them that Opticon was semi-conscious.  Although they could see no change in the creature, they followed the scientist down a clanking flight of metal stairs.  The scientist rejoined her colleagues who waited in a nervous clump to one side of Opticon's cell, along with the commander.

At close range, Yuuki could see that the cell, sunk into the room's floor, was surrounded on five sides by stone with only its top opening out into the room.  The creature inside was bound with iron restraints across clumps of its tentacles and the sides of its pod-like body.  Finally, Yuuki saw it move when one tentacle twitched, as if in sleep.

"What more will you require, sirs?" one of the other scientists asked the two Magnificent Ten members.  "If you wish to, ah, examine Opticon, we will open the cell.  Contact with the creature will be safe as it is restrained, but we can bring in some guards if you desire."

"No," said Zangetsu.  His blank eyes were focused on Opticon.  "Guards will not be necessary.  Please open the cell and leave us."

"Sir--" the commander began, eyes wide, but Zangetsu silenced him with a wave of his hand.

"You may wait for us outside the door.  We will inform you when we are finished with Opticon for today."

"For today?" murmured the scientist who had last spoken, but the commander spoke over him.

"Yes sir."  The reluctance in his voice was clear, but he had no choice but to obey the orders of the Magnificent Ten.  The commander and scientists ascended the staircase, and one scientist used the control panel to open the cell.

And then, finally, Yuuki and Zangetsu were left alone with Opticon.

"Will you communicate with it the way you do with the insects?" Zangetsu asked.  "By whistling?"

"That isn't the only way I communicate with the insects," said Yuuki, "but I'm not sure which way will be best with Opticon. . . or what will work at all."  He cast a glance at Zangetsu.  "This was your idea, after all."

Zangetsu chuckled.  "Yes, and I have complete faith in your abilities, Yuuki."  He crouched beside the cell and looked down on Opticon, then up at Yuuki.  His gaze-- and his faith-- made Yuuki nervous of failure, and he tried to forget Zangetsu as he lowered himself into the cell at the far end from Opticon's body.

Keeping his eyes focused on Opticon's pod, Yuuki brought two fingers to his lips and whistled.  It wasn't the usual sound he used to commune with his familiar moths, nor was it the battle cry with which he summoned his fighting insects.  Instead it was a querulous sound, testing the waters.

Opticon's reaction was more than Yuuki had expected.  Its tentacles, until then only twitching, stiffened and writhed.  Then it opened its eye.

The eye filled most of the front of Opticon's pod body: a large, strangely humanoid eye with a deep blue-green iris.  Staring overhead, Opticon's eye looked startled, then it rolled down to look in Yuuki's direction.  It must have been a strain, as Yuuki was standing at the creature's "feet," and he took a few steps closer to the pod before he whistled again.

This time, Opticon relaxed; its tense tentacles drooped again, and its eye half-closed.  From the insects, Yuuki was able to feel a kind of energy, waves of their simplistic thoughts; that was how he communicated with them.  And, he supposed, Zangetsu was right about Yuuki's connection to all things natural: although the thoughts were less comprehensible, he was able to feel them from other animals and from plants as well.

Now, from Opticon, there was. . . something.  The energy was far more complex than any Yuuki had felt before, and he could decipher no message in it.  Still, Yuuki felt that was due to his own limitations, not Opticon's.

Out of apprehension, Yuuki hesitated to touch Opticon.  _But when the insects land on me, it's almost like we're one being. . . I understand them with much more clarity.  I have to touch Opticon if I hope to truly communicate with it._ He laid his right hand on one of the thickest tentacles, close to where it joined Opticon's pod body and just above one of the iron bands which held the tentacles fast.

Opticon opened its eye wide, and the tentacle beneath Yuuki's touch thrashed as much as it could under the band.  _It isn't used to being touched-- but of course not,_ Yuuki thought. _No human has ever touched it, except for Zangetsu's team who fought it those years ago._

Yuuki closed his eyes and tried to keep himself calm as he whistled again, softly through his teeth rather than against his fingers.  With this whistle, he attempted to reassure Opticon that he meant it no harm and only wished to communicate with it.  The lovely, deep-colored eye narrowed, and the motion of Opticon's tentacles ceased-- and then the tentacle Yuuki held shot up, the creature raising the part below the confines of the iron band.  Yuuki felt the strong tentacle wrap around his waist and bodily lift him from the ground.

"Yuuki!"  Zangetsu leapt to his feet and clenched his fist; spikes appeared from between his fingers.  At the threatening motion, Opticon's eye cut to its right, to where Zangetsu stood.  Opticon's pupil began to glow with a greenish light.

"Zangetsu, stand down!" Yuuki gasped, even as he thought, _Please, don't hurt Zangetsu. . . ._

Zangetsu looked at Yuuki doubtfully, but he relaxed his fist, and the spikes vanished.  Yuuki was more relieved to see the glow fade from Opticon's pupil.

_You care for him, don't you?_

Yuuki's mouth dropped open as the large eye rolled to look up at him.  The words had come from Opticon, as if deposited directly into Yuuki's mind.

_I will not hurt him if he does not threaten me again._   The eye studied Yuuki, then the tentacle placed him back on his feet. . . but remained firmly about his waist.

"It's all right, Zangetsu," Yuuki managed to say aloud.  "Give me a chance to speak with him."  Zangetsu dropped back into a crouch, but he kept his eyes fixed on the exchange below him.

"Him?"

Yuuki didn't answer, but he realized he had spoken without thinking.  With their silent communication, Opticon had ceased to be a thing to him and had become a person.

_Who are you?_   The thought, persistent, dropped into Yuuki's brain.

_I am called Yuuki the Twilight, of the Big Fire Group.  He is Zangetsu the Midday._  
  
 _I remember him._   Opticon's eye shifted to Zangetsu and back.  _He hurt me before._

_I'm sorry,_ Yuuki thought and was surprised to realize his regret was sincere.  _He was trying to protect this base._

_This base attacked me first.  And then your lover had me captured, and they put me to sleep. . . ._   Opticon was clearly bitter, though understandably so.

_He isn't my lover!_   Yuuki felt his face burn.  _And. . . if we attacked you first, I didn't know.  I'm sorry._

Opticon was silent even mentally for a few moments.  Yuuki could feel him thinking, the thoughts like a river: Yuuki could only understand those on the surface, while below moved in currents outside of Yuuki's comprehension.  He knew his own thoughts must be the same way to Opticon.  They could not read each other's minds, only what they deliberately "spoke."

_Tell me about this place,_ Opticon finally went on.  _This place, and this planet.  And you and Zangetsu and Big Fire._

It was a tall order, too much to explain in words, even those formed in Yuuki's head.  Instead, he gave Opticon his memories, those that would answer the creature's questions.  In a moment, Opticon knew of Earth and Krasnoyarsk Krai, the Shizuma Drive and Big Fire, Yuuki and Zangetsu.  Yuuki hid nothing, knowing that honesty would be the only way to gain Opticon's trust. . . although he tried to avoid dwelling too much on Zangetsu.  Opticon already knew more than enough about Yuuki's feelings.

_Will you tell me about yourself?_ Yuuki asked when he was finished.  He asked not out of politeness but from true curiosity.

Opticon's answer was harder to understand without his use of words.  Yuuki realized that in their first touch, Opticon had discovered the human's language and adapted himself to "speak" in it.  Opticon's pure thoughts, though, were in no language and came in patterns unfamiliar to Yuuki.

From what Yuuki could decipher, Opticon was not the creature's real name.  His name, though, was nothing pronounceable to the human race, and he accepted the name of "Opticon" for Yuuki's use.  Opticon came from a distant planet, one inhabited by a race of creatures like himself.  He had traveled through space-- for what reason, Yuuki could not understand-- until he had come across Earth.  

Following the path of a meteor that had struck more than 100 years in the past, Opticon descended upon the Tunguska Base.  According to his memories, Big Fire's soldiers _had_ attacked him first with projectile weapons, and so Opticon had struck back with his own attacks: lasers and suction, both from his pupil.  He had ultimately been overcome by Zangetsu's men though, then sedated.  After that Opticon remembered no more.

_I have slept ever since,_ he told Yuuki, _until you had me awakened.  Why?  What do you want from me?_

Yuuki hesitated then.  As he had said to Zangetsu, he didn't want to reveal their request too soon.  Finally, he responded, _We-- that is, Zangetsu and I-- need your help.  But I want you to know that you can trust me, first._

_I see._   Opticon seemed to be hesitating as well.  _You can understand how that is difficult, with me sedated and in restraints.  Perhaps **you** need to be able to trust **me**_.  He was right, Yuuki knew.

_Will you talk with me again tomorrow?_ he asked Opticon.  _If we communicate more. . . perhaps we will both trust more easily._

He half-expected the creature to refuse, but he felt assent from Opticon.  _All right.  I can feel that you are exhausted. . . you have not had years of rest like I have._   Yuuki was surprised to feel some sense of humor in the thought.

_Yes, I will go rest.  Thank you, Opticon, for talking with me._   He felt some acknowledgment, then Opticon's tentacle released his waist.

When Yuuki turned to climb out of the cell, Zangetsu reached down a hand to help him.  As Zangetsu's gloved hand closed over Yuuki's, the younger man asked, "Are you all right?  It-- he didn't hurt you?"

"No, I'm all right."  After Zangetsu helped pull him out of the cell, Yuuki stood and straightened his suit.  "I learned a lot about him.  I'll tell you when we've retired to the private rooms."  
  
"Yes," murmured Zangetsu.  Together, they mounted the catwalk and returned to the control room where the base's commander and scientists awaited them.

"You may sedate Opticon again," Zangetsu told the anxious lead scientist.

"Wait," said Yuuki.  "Don't sedate him."  Everyone, Zangetsu included, gave him sharp looks, but Yuuki bore them calmly.  "Leave him at his current level of consciousness.  Just keep him restrained, and have him watched.  You may sedate him only if it becomes absolutely necessary."

The scientist looked at Zangetsu as if expecting contradicting orders, but when Zangetsu said nothing, she answered, "Yes sir."

Yuuki nodded.  "We will return tomorrow morning."  Turning to the commander, he went on, "Please, show us to the Magnificent Ten's suite."

"Yes sir," muttered the commander.  He led Zangetsu and Yuuki through the command center and out into the halls of the base.

As they walked, Zangetsu leaned close and whispered to Yuuki, "I hope you know what you're doing."

Yuuki hoped so as well, but he instinctively felt as if he could trust Opticon as much as he could Zangetsu.

\--

To be continued


	4. Chapter 4

Yuuki really was exhausted, as Opticon had perceived.  He and Zangetsu went up to the suite provided for the Magnificent Ten, which consisted of a small conference room, a single bedroom, and a bath.  When they sat in the conference room, Yuuki sank down into an overstuffed leather chair, one of four set around a circular mahogany table.  As soon as he sat down, Yuuki felt tiredness wash over him.  It was, he realized, a combination of a disrupted sleep schedule, jet lag, and mental stress from his communication with Opticon.

"Are you all right?"  Zangetsu spoke from a chair facing Yuuki's, where he lounged with his slender legs crossed and his pipe between his fingers.

Yuuki realized he had let his eyelids droop even more than usual.  "Yes, I'm only tired.  But I must tell you about Opticon before I can rest."

"Don't strain yourself, Yuuki."  Zangetsu paused and drew on his pipe.  "Does it tire you to communicate with him?"

"Yes," Yuuki admitted.  "It is more difficult than speaking with the insects-- he _is_ extraterrestrial, after all."

"And he _is_ a 'he'?"  Zangetsu's lip twisted slightly with what Yuuki saw as disdain.

"I am not sure if he is technically male in our earthly sense of sexual biology.  But he is clearly sentient, not an 'it.'"  Yuuki gave Zangetsu a stern look.  "You must treat him respectfully.  He almost attacked you today because you threatened him."

"I threatened him because he attacked _you_!"  Zangetsu sat forward, clenching his fingers around his pipe.

"He wasn't attacking me.  He. . . ."  Yuuki trailed off, remembering that Zangetsu had come to his defense.  Even now, the younger man's expression looked hurt as he glared at Yuuki.

"Zangetsu, I'm sorry," Yuuki said instead of continuing his tirade.  "Thank you for. . . for protecting me."  His voice fell to a mumble, and he halfway hoped Zangetsu wouldn't hear him as he finished, "It means much to me."

"Eh, you're right, though. . . .  I shouldn't pick any fights with Opticon, not when we need his help."  Zangetsu sat back again and smoked a moment, calming himself.  "Now, tell me what you learned from him."

Yuuki related what Opticon had revealed about his origins and his intent towards the Tunguska Base.  When he had finished, Zangetsu set aside his pipe and templed his fingers in front of his mouth.

"I certainly didn't hear any claims from my men that we attacked Opticon first," he said, then he went on diplomatically, "But I was deep within the base when he appeared.  I didn't see what happened."

"I don't think he can lie to me," said Yuuki.  "I mean, he could try, but I believe I would be able to feel deception.  There are things we did not tell each other of course. . . but either of us would detect an outright lie from the other."

"That could be very good or very bad.  So when will you tell him our plans?"

"In one or two days, I hope."  Yuuki dropped his head and massaged his temples with his fingertips.  "I want to develop a stronger bond with him first, so he will be more likely to accept."

He heard Zangetsu shift in his chair.  "Yuuki. . . ."  Yuuki jumped when he felt Zangetsu's gloved hand cover one of his own and draw it away from his head.  "You need to rest."  The younger man took in a deep breath, still holding Yuuki's hand.  "I hope I have not made a mistake, asking for your help.  I didn't realize it would be such a strain on you."

"I'll be fine."  Yuuki looked down at their hands.  "Right now, I just want to sleep."

"But first, aren't you hungry?"  Zangetsu gave a little chuckle and stood, finally dropping Yuuki's hand.  "I'm going to have someone bring a meal up here.  Do you want one?"

Yuuki hadn't even thought about food, but he now realized he _was_ hungry.  "Yes, please.  I'm going to take a shower before I eat though."

He went into the bedroom for a change of clothing but stopped when he saw how the room was furnished.  All the furniture was of the finest quality, the dresser and nightstands made from the same mahogany as the conference table.  Plush wine-colored carpet covered the floor, and the room was tastefully lit.  Even the bed was clothed with silk and velour-- but that was the problem: there was only one bed.  True, it was king-sized, but it would still have to be shared with Zangetsu.

Shaking those worries off for the time being, Yuuki tried to think instead of how good it would feel to eat and rest.  He hurried through his shower and rejoined Zangetsu in the conference room, wearing a dressing gown with his hair still damp.  The table had already been set with their meal, and Zangetsu was standing, pouring from a bottle of red wine, when Yuuki sat down.

Zangetsu chuckled as he filled Yuuki's glass.  "My, you were in a hurry.  You're going to catch a cold, going around with wet hair."

Yuuki was lulled into giving him an abashed smile.  "Kawarazaki always told me that too.  I never did get sick though, even as a child."

Zangetsu tugged on one of the strands of hair hanging over Yuuki's ears, then he sat down to his meal.  The wine was far better than the food, which had been long preserved in the base's stores, and Yuuki had drunk enough to relax by the time they finished eating.  He spoke little, but Zangetsu told a few amusing stories about past missions-- and the time he had had to babysit Sunny when both Alberto and Hanzui were out on an assignment.  For the first time, Yuuki felt comfortable around Zangetsu, and he enjoyed the younger man's company.

Zangetsu called one of the base's staff to clear their dishes, although he took his wine glass with him into the bedroom.  Yuuki and his own glass followed Zangetsu to allow the staff member to clean up; however, some of his anxiety returned when Zangetsu shut the door behind him.  Yuuki was now a little more used to being alone with the younger man-- but being alone in a bedroom was a different matter entirely.

"I'll be back in a few moments," Zangetsu said over his shoulder as he gathered up clothes from his bag before heading to the shower.

Yuuki mumbled assent, but once Zangetsu was in the bathroom, Yuuki just stood and looked at the bed.  Finally he chose the right side and set his wine glass on the nightstand.  Even then, it took Yuuki a few minutes of gathering his courage before he actually got in bed.  The bed was exquisitely comfortable, and Yuuki felt his body sink into the feather mattress as he sat propped up on two pillows.  His legs slid over the sheets as he stretched out and pulled the covers over them.

Zangetsu returned a few moments later, carrying his hat and dressed in a silk robe but still wearing his mask.  Yuuki wondered if he wore the mask in the shower and chuckled at the thought before he could stop himself.

"Don't laugh at me," Zangetsu said primly as he hung his suit in the room's small closet then laid his hat on the dresser.  "I know my hair needs trimming, but at least _I_ dried it!"

"It looks fine.  I was just wondering if--"  Yuuki stopped himself and decided not to touch his wine glass again.  He had certainly had enough already.

"You were wondering if what?"  Zangetsu threw back the covers on the left side of the bed and sat down.  He tugged the sheets back up over his legs but left his upper half uncovered; Yuuki's eyes were drawn from the younger man's dark hair to the V of his chest revealed by the robe.

"If. . . you wore your mask in the shower," Yuuki finally finished.  He looked back at Zangetsu's face, trying to hold back another chuckle.

"No, of course not!" retorted Zangetsu.  "And I don't normally wear it to bed either-- but then _normally_ , I sleep alone."

"Do you," Yuuki murmured, trying to force back the stupid smile he felt tugging at his mouth.

Zangetsu turned and took up his own wine glass.  "You aren't going to ask me to take it off, are you?"

"Certainly not.  That would be rude of me."

"I don't show my face to anyone," Zangetsu murmured.

"I won't ask you to," Yuuki repeated.  As Zangetsu looked back to him again, Yuuki's gaze dropped to the lips he had touched in the forest.  Zangetsu didn't speak again, but in a moment he leaned forward, almost to the middle of the bed, drinking from his glass and watching Yuuki.

Yuuki tried to focus his mind through the haze caused from exhaustion and alcohol.  "Zangetsu, I'm very tired," he finally said.  "I must rest."

"Yes. . . ."  Zangetsu shifted to put his glass back on the nightstand and dim the lamp that sat there.  Yuuki moved to turn off his own lamp entirely.  When he looked back, Zangetsu was already lying down on his back, his head resting on a pillow on his side of the bed.  The younger man's eyes were still open, and he was still watching Yuuki.

Yuuki lay down as well.  He was tempted to turn his back on Zangetsu, to escape the younger man's blank gaze.  Those eyes seemed to pin Yuuki in place, like. . . well, like a moth to a board, and they stole away the relaxed feeling Yuuki had had with Zangetsu earlier.

Nevertheless, he couldn't turn away.  Instead, he rested his head on his pillow and looked at the features so perfectly defined even in the dim light.

"Good night, Zangetsu," Yuuki mumbled.

"Good night."  A faint smile crossed Zangetsu's lips.  "Sweet dreams, Yuuki."

\--

Yuuki slept heavily, and he did have a sweet dream.  In it, he was back in his spot by the water near the Magnificent Ten's complex.  It was evening, and he called for his insects.  There were no moths there, but instead there came a hoard of dragonflies from out over the water.  They hummed to Yuuki, and he whistled back.

When he awoke, though, all the things he had forgotten in the dream came back: Opticon, the GR Project. . . Zangetsu.  The room was still as dim as the night before, as it had no windows opening on the bleak landscape outside.  However, a clock hanging over the dresser proclaimed it to be midmorning.

Yuuki raised himself on one arm and looked down at Zangetsu.  The younger man was still sleeping, buried in the sheets and blankets provided on the bed.  Only one delicate hand and his head, still masked, were visible on the pillow.  Yuuki was anxious to visit Opticon again, now that he was rested, but he hesitated to wake Zangetsu.

Instead, Yuuki lay back beside him, closer together than they had slept that night.  Yuuki's open hand rested near Zangetsu's, their fingers nearly touching.  This was the first time Yuuki had seen Zangetsu without gloves on, and he longed to feel the younger man's bare hand.  Very slowly, Yuuki slid his fingers beneath Zangetsu's, which felt warm to Yuuki's touch.  Yuuki gazed at the long fingers and imagined putting them to his lips and caressing them.

_Why do I have to feel this way?_ he wondered as his eyes dropped closed.  _I've never loved any human being except for Kawarazaki, like a father. . . and I never needed anyone else either.  What is it about you that makes me so weak?_   Before the week that had turned the world-- and the Big Fire Group-- on its head, Yuuki might have claimed he felt only physical attraction to Zangetsu.  But when he saw Zangetsu limp in Neptune's giant hand, Yuuki experienced a deeper pain than he thought possible. . . a pain that didn't ease until he was sure Zangetsu was still alive.

And now that he had spent time with Zangetsu, Yuuki knew him for a complex person rather than simply a seductive and ultimately untrustworthy force.  _He can make me smile, and I never thought of him having a humorous side before.  I could almost call him my friend. . . ._

"Yuuki?"  Zangetsu's voice was drowsy, but it brought Yuuki to the present with a jolt.  He was still holding the younger man's hand in his.  "Are you awake?"

Yuuki made an indistinct grumbling noise, hoping that Zangetsu would think he had been sleeping.  Otherwise, Yuuki didn't know how to explain their clasped hands.  Zangetsu squeezed his fingers lightly, then he sat up.

"Yuuki, wake up."  Yuuki felt a sharp tug on his hair and heard a chuckle.  He finally opened his eyes to see Zangetsu looking down at him.  "I know you usually sleep all day, but we have things to do."

"You mean, _I_ have things to do. . . ."  Yuuki sat up and raked his fingers through his hair, trying to smooth it.  When he raised his eyes, Zangetsu was still watching him, and Yuuki tried to temper his words with a half-smile.  Zangetsu smiled back.

"Well, _someone_ has to sit there and watch over you."  As he stood up, Zangetsu stretched, and the thin silk of his robe caught on his broad shoulders.  Yuuki turned away to get out of bed as Zangetsu's motion pulled the material tight across his hips.

"I'll order us breakfast before we go back down," Zangetsu went on.

"I don't want anything to eat."  Yuuki pulled on his pants under his dressing gown.  "I want to start with Opticon right away."  Zangetsu looked over at him just as Yuuki stripped off the gown , making the older man flush.

"Yuuki, skipping breakfast isn't healthy," Zangetsu said.  Yuuki couldn't tell exactly where his blank eyes were focused, but they might have been looking at Yuuki's bare chest.  "You should eat, especially if communicating with Opticon strains you."

"It's already late," Yuuki mumbled as he hurried to put on a shirt.  "I've lost time with him by oversleeping."

"Opticon isn't not going anywhere," announced Zangetsu as he picked up his own pants.  Yuuki resolutely turned his back on the younger man  to put on his tie and jacket.  He took his time, and when he did finally turn around, Zangetsu was dressed and putting on his hand.  
  
"Come on," Zangetsu gestured to Yuuki once they were dressed.  "You're going to eat something."  Yuuki gave in with a nod, and followed the younger man to the conference room, where Zangetsu called the staff to bring up their meal.  It proved to be only toasted bread and canned fruit, not much better than their dinner the previous night; however, Yuuki decided the coffee was worth his wait.  So was Zangetsu's concern for his well-being.

Zangetsu sipped a cup of tea and smoked as Yuuki finished his coffee.  Neither spoke much during the meal; despite their easy conversation the night before, Yuuki again felt nervous.  As Yuuki watched the younger man, Zangetsu's every motion seemed infused with elegance and grace.  His long fingers manipulated his pipe and tea cup with equal ease, and Yuuki felt slow and unattractive beside him.

"Let's go," Yuuki said after gulping the last mouthful of coffee; at least when he was with Opticon, he could forget his own shortcomings.

"All right."  Zangetsu tucked his pipe away in his jacket, then they took an elevator down through the complex to where Opticon waited.  By the time they arrived, it was nearly noon.  The base's commander had left guards to watch Opticon, since the eye creature had not been sedated; however, they reported that he had not caused any trouble.  Opticon's eye was open, and it rolled toward Yuuki as he and Zangetsu approached.

After dismissing the guards, Yuuki climbed down into Opticon's cell as he had the previous day.  Zangetsu too resumed his position, sitting on the edge of the cell and dangling his long legs over the side.  His expression as he gazed at the eye creature was stern.  Yuuki rested his hand against one tentacle and looked up into Opticon's eye.

_Good morning,_ Yuuki thought, for lack of knowing how else to begin.

_I thought you would come sooner than this._   Opticon's eye looked almost petulant as it moved toward Zangetsu then back to Yuuki.

_I slept a long time._   Even to Yuuki, his response sounded defensive.

_You do seem more rested._   Opticon lifted a small tentacle and curled it around Yuuki's waist as he had the day before, only this time he didn't lift Yuuki in the air.  To Yuuki's left, Zangetsu fidgeted on his perch.  _Did you sleep well?_

Yuuki remembered sleeping beside Zangetsu all night, touching his hand, feeling the grip of Zangetsu's fingers on his.  He didn't realize he was broadcasting his thoughts to Opticon until the creature "spoke" again.

_I see that you did._

Yuuki's face grew hot, and he hurried to change the subject.  _Will you tell me more about your home?_

_If we make a trade.  You tell me first about yourself.  All I learned yesterday was of your organization, and that does not interest me._

Frowning, Yuuki decided that wasn't a good thing.  If Opticon was not interested in the Big Fire Group, he had no reason to want to help them.  Still, Yuuki knew it was best to humor the eye creature for the time being.

_All right, but there is little to interest you here, either.  You can feel my power, and it is the only thing special about me._

_Do you really believe that?_   When Yuuki had no answer for him, Opticon went on, _Let me decide for myself._

So Yuuki told Opticon about his life, things no one but Kawarazaki knew: Yuuki's discovery of his powers, his friendless childhood, howl Kawarazaki took guardianship of him and trained him, Yuuki's entrance into the BF Group and the Magnificent Ten.  But he told more about his insects than anything else.

_So this is how you can speak with me. . . your love for the voiceless,_ said Opticon when Yuuki had finished.

_What?_

_You love the insignificant in your world, those that cannot speak,_ the eye creature elaborated. _That is far more special than your ability and willingness to fight._

Yuuki wasn't sure how the two things were different; his eagerness to fight with his insects was intertwined with his love for them.  Yet he knew he had received what Opticon considered high praise.

_The insects have been my companions when I have no one else,_ Yuuki finally answered.  _And yes, they are voiceless to most of our world.  I would speak for them if they asked me to._

_And is that how you see me?_ Opticon asked.  _Would you speak for **me** if I asked?_

_I. . . I would._   Yuuki moved his hand on Opticon's tentacle, stroking it absently.  _Is that what you want?  If I am to be honest. . . I feel you are wrongly imprisoned.  If you wish for me to speak in your defense--_

_If you did, your Zangetsu would not be pleased._   Opticon narrowed his eye and turned it toward Zangetsu, who had remained in his watchful pose throughout Yuuki's dialogue with the eye creature.  _He does not trust me-- he does not like me.  But. . . ._  The blue-green eye turned back to Yuuki.  _You meant it, didn't you?  You would speak for me._

Yuuki replied, _Yes, I would speak for you.  What do you wish me to say, and to whom? To Zangetsu?_

But Opticon surprised him. _No, be patient.  Let me remain silent a little longer.  This is the first day I have had clear use of my mental faculties since I came to this planet, now that most of the sedatives have worn off.  I am still thinking about my situation. . . and about you.  But for now. . . I have to keep my part of the trade and describe my home to you._

At first, Yuuki was concerned at what Opticon meant by thinking about the situation, but soon that concern was lost as he listened to the interesting stories the eye creature told him.  Opticon's home world was far different from any place even the Magnificent Ten had seen, and much of it could not have been described in human language.  Yuuki's eyes fell closed while he listened, and he lost all track of time until he felt a touch on his arm. . . a human touch.

"Yuuki!"  
  
He started and looked to see Zangetsu beside him, his gloved hand closed over Yuuki's arm.  Opticon's soundless narrative had ceased.

"Zangetsu. . . ."  
  
"What's going on?"  The younger man cast a frown toward Opticon's eye.  "You've been in-- in a trace for an hour now!  What's he doing to you?"

"Nothing. . . nothing."  Yuuki shook his head to clear it.  "He was telling me about his home world."

Zangetsu tugged on Yuuki's arm.  "You look exhausted.  Leave him for today."

_Why is he interfering?_   Opticon's voice conflicted with Zangetsu's in Yuuki's mind, and the eye creature tightened his tentacle a bit around Yuuki's waist.

"Stop that!" Zangetsu snapped.  Yuuki thought the masked man was speaking to him, until Zangetsu grasped the tentacle and pulled it away from Yuuki.  "You've had control of him long enough, Opticon!"

"He isn't controlling me," Yuuki protested through a haze of confusion.  Now that he was separated from Opticon, he realized that he _was_ tired.  Everything, Zangetsu included, seemed as if Yuuki had just awoken from a dream.  _Maybe Zangetsu is right. . . ._

"All right," he finally managed, "let me say goodbye, and we'll continue tomorrow."  
  
Despite Zangetsu's impatient glare, Yuuki put his hand on Opticon again.  _I'm sorry, but I do need to rest.  I will come back tomorrow._

_He desires you,_ Opticon said abruptly. _I felt it when he touched me.  He interfered because he's. . . **jealous** , of me!_  The creature sounded amused, which might have been frightening if Yuuki hadn't been so embarrassed.

_Zangetsu couldn't. . . not me._   Yuuki lowered his eyes to avoid meeting Opticon's.

_Your self-abasing modesty grows tiresome,_ said Opticon.   _I know you do not find yourself attractive by human standards of beauty-- yet you do not judge others by those standards.  Why give yourself less respect than you give the homeliest of your insects-- or me, for that matter?_   In spite of himself, Yuuki looked up at Opticon, questioning.

_You find me fascinating, don't you?_ the eye creature went on.  _Perhaps even beautiful. . . yet others of your species recoil from me in disgust.  And this Zangetsu.  You do not know what that mask hides.  He could be deformed, even monstrous-- but you would still love him, would you not?_

"Opticon!"  Yuuki spoke aloud even as he jerked his hand away.

Zangetsu put his hand back to Yuuki's arm.  "Yuuki!  What did he do to you?"

Yuuki turned away from them both, hurrying to scramble out of the cell.  "Nothing.  He only said-- something--"  He stopped short as he rose to his feet outside the cell, repressing a shudder.   Yuuki had meant to finish the sentence with the word "untrue," but he could not.

"Yuuki?"  Zangetsu climbed out of the cell and approached him.  "Did he hurt you?  I'll have them sedate him again--"

"No!"  Yuuki spun back to Zangetsu, snapping at him to cover his own emotions.  "You know that I don't want him sedated!  Why must you keep meddling in this?  Didn't you bring me here to communicate with him, because you could not?"

Zangetsu's gloved hands clenched into fists at his sides.  "Yes, but I _didn't_ bring you here to let that monster possess you and turn you against me!"

"Zangetsu, I want to be alone right now," Yuuki muttered.  "Leave Opticon as he is."  He turned away and hurried up the stairs to the catwalk leading out of the room, not looking back at either Opticon or Zangetsu.

\--

To be continued


	5. Chapter 5

Yuuki went up to the Magnificent Ten's suite long enough to get his coat, then he escaped the base from the entrance he and Zangetsu had used.  After being inside for nearly twenty-four hours, Yuuki welcomed the open air, cold as it was.  Even the loneliness he felt outside was better than the bitter closeness indoors.

The cold sank into Yuuki's hair and chilled his face, but his body was warm inside his heavy grey woolen coat.  He trudged across the hard ground, snowless but frozen, until he reached a copse of evergreens near the base's runway.  The trees were inside the high electric fence surrounding the base, yet they satisfied Yuuki.  He would have drawn too much attention anyhow had he passed the guards to leave the base.

Yuuki sat down on the ground in the midst of the trees and leaned his back against one of their rough trunks.  Closing his eyes, he tilted his head back to the trunk as well and breathed slowly, calming himself.

He couldn't _not_ think about Opticon, but at least Yuuki was able to consider something else the eye creature had said, not his commentary on Zangetsu: _Why give yourself less respect than you give the homeliest of your insects?_

_Perhaps he's right,_ Yuuki thought.  _Kawarazaki always told me to ignore what the other children said about my appearance. . . that my powers were what mattered._   Opticon seemed to think Yuuki's love for his insects, and nature as a whole, mattered too.

Opening one eye, Yuuki brought his fingers to his mouth and whistled.  He wasn't sure anything would happen, but after only a moment, a cloud  of insects swooped down upon him.  Many were lacy-winged sawflies, but there were moths too: feathery brown and white leaf miners, coneworms with patterns that reminded Yuuki of grey argyle sweaters.  As they fluttered around him, Yuuki smiled.  Although he missed his own familiar moths, he could appreciate these insects too.

_Opticon's right. . . .  I can find beauty where no one else sees it-- in the voiceless, and in him.  In a strange way, he's trying to help me.  I have to trust him._

Yuuki let his hand fall from his mouth, but the insects stayed close.  Trusting Opticon also meant being honest with the eye creature, and Yuuki decided to confess Zangetsu's plan to Opticon the next day.  Whether the eye creature agreed or refused was up to Opticon.

_I must tell Zangetsu that I am proceeding with our plan._   Yuuki sighed, and the insects swirled in a cloud around his head.  _And I must tell him I'm sorry. . . ._

Tired from his long communication with Opticon, Yuuki nearly slept there leaning against the tree while the insects circled him then eventually flew away when they realized they'd lost his attention.  Yuuki didn't stir until he heard the crunch of footsteps approaching him across the frozen ground.

"Yuuki?"

Yuuki drew in his breath sharply and looked up at Zangetsu standing a few feet away from him.  The younger man was wearing a long black coat trimmed with some kind of dark fur.

"Do you still want to be alone?"

"No," Yuuki breathed.  Zangetsu moved closer and sank to the cold ground beside Yuuki, his back against the same tree trunk.

"I had a feeling you wanted to talk to me," Zangetsu said.  When he spoke, his breath crystallized before his lips.  "And I knew you'd be out here."

"You did?"  Yuuki turned to look at Zangetsu's profile.  "How?"

"You called the insects a while ago, didn't you?  I could feel it. . . ."  Zangetsu turned too so that they faced one another.  "Yuuki, I'm worried about you, that Opticon is hurting you somehow."

"He isn't," Yuuki insisted.  "Today, he said something I did not wish to hear; that is all.  I told you, he and I cannot lie to each other-- but it isn't easy to hear him tell me truths about myself."

"Yuuki. . . ."  Zangetsu hesitated before going on.  "If this is too much of a strain on you. . . please, return home.  I'll deal with Opticon."

"No!"  Yuuki bowed his head in frustration.  "I cannot leave.  If he hurt you, I. . . I couldn't forgive myself."

He jumped when he felt Zangetsu's gloved hand close over his chin and lift it so their eyes met again.  Despite the mask, the younger man's face looked more vulnerable than Yuuki had ever seen before.

"You really are concerned for me?" Zangetsu asked as he let his hand drop.

"Yes," Yuuki admitted.  He wanted to look away, but Zangetsu's mysterious eyes held his.  "Even with your powers, Opticon could injure you gravely before you could counterattack.  I. . . don't want anything to happen to you, Zangetsu."  Yuuki was afraid that Zangetsu might be offended that Yuuki considered him weaker than Opticon.  However, a faint smile moved over the younger man's lips instead.

"Thank you."  

"Mmn."  Yuuki nodded.  "I should thank you as well.  You've. . . ."  He fumbled for the right words but could find no other way to describe what he meant.  "You've taken care of me.  I doubted your intentions at first-- and I suppose I trusted Opticon over you.  I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry.  These days, it's hard to know whom to trust. . . even among the Magnificent Ten.  But Yuuki, I do care for you."

Yuuki felt his face burn hot even in the cold air at how Zangetsu had altered his words.  Opticon's declaration came back to Yuuki: _He desires you_.  And as Yuuki had said, Opticon couldn't lie to him.  

"Zangetsu. . . ."

The younger man half-turned his face away.  "I should be the one to apologize.  I make you uncomfortable, I know."

"Everyone makes me uncomfortable," Yuuki replied, even with a weak smile.  Zangetsu was right, of course, but Yuuki didn't want to drive him away.

"Old Man Kawarazaki doesn't. . . and Opticon doesn't."

_He **is** jealous of Opticon, _ Yuuki marveled, but before he could think of anything to say, Zangetsu looked at him straight on.

"Yuuki, I must confess. . . I enjoyed it at first, teasing you, I mean.  But after you showed me your powers in the forest--"  This time, color rose in Zangetsu's cheeks instead of Yuuki's.  "I don't want you to be uneasy with me."

"I'm learning," Yuuki murmured.  He looked down at Zangetsu's gloved hands, resting on the younger man's thighs.  It took Yuuki a moment, but he worked up the courage to put one of his own hands over Zangetsu's.

"Please, trust me now, Yuuki."  When Yuuki met Zangetsu's gaze again, the younger man whispered, "Look at me the way you look at your moths."

Yuuki's fingers clenched over Zangetsu's, then he brought the gloved hand to his trembling lips. Zangetsu watched him with his own lips parted, then he drew both their hands down.  Still holding Yuuki's hand, he leaned forward and touched his mouth to Yuuki's.  When Zangetsu's lips brushed his, Yuuki's heart beat in his chest like a moth's wings against a window, frantic and rapid.

The kiss lasted only an instant before Zangetsu sat back, his cheeks flushed where his mask revealed them.  He looked very young at that moment, shy in a way Yuuki had never envisioned in all the times he had imagined a kiss between them.

_He's as nervous as I am,_ Yuuki realized.  _He really doesn't know how I feel about him. . . ._

Yuuki bent his head and kissed Zangetsu back, first with his mouth closed; but when he realized Zangetsu's lips were parted, Yuuki flicked his tongue between them.  The younger man responded with an eagerness that stunned Yuuki, bringing their clasped hands up to hold Yuuki's head as their mouths moved together.  A slight moan echoed from Zangetsu's mouth to Yuuki's as they separated, panted for breath, then came together again.

When they finally stopped, Zangetsu had both arms around Yuuki's shoulders.  Yuuki wrapped his own arms about Zangetsu's chest and pressed his mouth to the side of the younger man's face, feeling the silky mask beneath his lips.

"Zangetsu. . . ."

The younger man combed his fingers through a strand of Yuuki's hair.  "When you kiss me like that," he whispered, "I can feel your powers.  I'm drawn to you like a moth. . . ."  He sat back and smiled at Yuuki.  "Maybe you did call me earlier.  I was touring the base then-- do you want to come with me to see the rest of it?  If we stay out here much longer, we'll get caught."

At that moment, Yuuki would have gone anywhere with him, and anyway, it was a practical idea.  "All right.  That way we won't be completely lying when we tell the others we ran off to inspect bases.  I'm starting to get cold, anyhow."

Zangetsu took both of Yuuki's hands in his.  "You've been out here a long time."  The younger man drew his legs under him in a crouch, then he stood up and tugged on Yuuki's hands to coax him up too.  "Come on inside."

They walked together back into the base, and Zangetsu showed Yuuki what he had been inspecting: the control room they had visited the previous day.  As the two members of the Magnificent Ten talked to the various soldiers and lower-level workers, Yuuki was impressed.  He hadn't expected such a small base to be run so efficiently-- especially only days after losing all power when the Eye of Vogler disabled its Shizuma drives.  Apparently the Tunguska Base's commander had worked hard to get the place back online quickly.  Yuuki made a mental note to commend him to the rest of the Magnificent Ten for his work.

Zangetsu and Yuuki saw the rest of the base in that one afternoon; the complex was that small.  Other than the control room, the barracks, and the room which housed Opticon, there was only a weapons cache, the scientists' laboratory, a bunker, and the spaces necessary for day to day operations: kitchen, cafeteria, Shizuma power generator, and the like.

"They have quite an efficient set-up here," Zangetsu commented as he and Yuuki walked alone through an empty corridor.  "I'm surprised, really."

"Yes, so am I."  They hadn't seen Opticon again that day, but Yuuki's thoughts had returned to him.  "They've done an impressive job of caring for Opticon as well, even if he has been sedated for all these years."

"I agree. . . but I'd rather not talk about him right now."  When Yuuki looked at him curiously, Zangetsu smiled.  "I'd like to have you to myself this evening."  
  
Yuuki felt his face grow warm even as he smiled too.  "Y-you will.  But. . . ."  He put a hand on Zangetsu's arm to stop him in the corridor.  "There is one more thing I want to say about him-- to get it out of the way now."

Zangetsu's smile faded, and he turned back to Yuuki with an almost apprehensive look.  "What is it, Yuuki?"

"Tomorrow, I want to tell him our plan for him. . . and ask him if he will help us in the GR Project."

Zangetsu was silent, thinking, but then he raised his eyes to Yuuki's face.  "Do you believe he will agree?"

Yuuki thought back to his earlier conversation with Opticon.  _I told him I would speak for him. . . and I think he would do the same for me._

"Yes," he told Zangetsu.  "I believe he will."

Yuuki thought Zangetsu was going to protest, but the younger man nodded instead.  "I trust your judgment, Yuuki.  If you feel it's time, I agree with you."

"Thank you, Zangetsu."  Yuuki hesitated out of nervousness, but then he took Zangetsu's hand in his.  "Your faith means a lot to me."

Zangetsu clutched Yuuki's hand.  "Yuuki, I do have faith in you.  Just. . . there's something I have to ask you.  After this, I won't speak of it again."

"What?"  Yuuki studied Zangetsu's eyes, but they were, as always, unreadable.

"Do you care for Opticon?"

Yuuki was startled, especially as Opticon had asked almost that exact question about Zangetsu.  Yuuki's answer this time was very different, though.

"Zangetsu, no. . . not in the way you mean.  I find him fascinating, and I'm-- fond of him, you could say, despite how frustrating he can be.  But. . . the way I feel for Opticon, it's how I feel about my insects.  He calls it a love for the voiceless, those who can't speak to humans except through me."  Yuuki licked his lips in thought, trying to explain in a way that would make sense to Zangetsu.  "I respect him and care _about_ him.  But I couldn't. . . fall in love with him."

"I see."  Zangetsu brought his free hand up to Yuuki's hair, stroking one tendril.  "Yuuki, I've never met anyone else like you.  Among the Magnificent Ten, none other could care about a creature like that, or see him as more than a tool for the service of the BF Group.  Maybe eventually I can see him through your eyes, but even so. . . I could never be like you: so gentle to those who need you yet so violent to those who oppose our lord Big Fire."  
  
Yuuki flushed again at hearing himself described through Zangetsu's eyes.  "We each have our own powers.  I could never be like you, either, Zangetsu."  He rested his hand against the younger man's, holding it to his cheek.  "But that's why you. . . you fascinate me, in a way Opticon never could."

Zangetsu's smile returned, now brilliant, and he leaned forward to whisper to Yuuki, "I can do a lot for you that Opticon never could."  A shiver worked its way down Yuuki's body as Zangetsu's lips brushed his ear, but the younger man stepped back before Yuuki could reply.  "Are you hungry?  I was thinking I'd stop by the kitchen and ask them to bring us something."

"All right.  The food here could be better. . . but the wine wasn't bad."

Zangetsu grinned outright as he took Yuuki's arm and started for the kitchen.  "How about I request two bottles then?"

\--

After dinner that evening in the conference room, Zangetsu brought the rest of the wine with them into the bedroom.  He filled Yuuki's glass before setting the bottle down and shrugging out of his jacket.  Yuuki swallowed hard and fumbled with the buttons of his own suit.

Zangetsu tossed his jacket on the back of a chair and stepped out of his shoes, then he took off his hat and set it on his nightstand before finally sitting on his side of the bed.  Yuuki sat down as well, fidgeting a little, and sipped at his glass.

"I wonder what's happening back at headquarters," Yuuki said as he looked down into his wine glass.  "I hope Kawarazaki was right when he said that Koumei cannot yet begin the GR Project.  Otherwise, we may return to find ourselves outmaneuvered after all."

"We have moved quickly, Yuuki.  Even if Koumei has set his plans in motion, he can't have gotten far, and I don't think we have cause to be concerned-- provided Opticon agrees to help us."  Zangetsu sighed and took a long drink.  "But I said I didn't want to talk about Opticon."  He cut his blank eyes to Yuuki.

"I know, I'm sorry.  I just can't help worrying after being out of communication with the rest of the Magnificent Ten."

"We'll be home soon, one way or another."  Zangetsu turned on his side to face Yuuki, reclining with his glass in one hand.  "Either Opticon will agree to help us, or he won't.  We'll know tomorrow."

"Yes. . . ."  Yuuki swallowed another mouthful of wine then set his glass aside before he drank too much.  "All right, I'll stop fretting about it for now.  I promise, no more business tonight: no Opticon, no GR Project, no Magnificent Ten."

Zangetsu smiled and put his own glass down.  "I promise too.  I would rather think about other things."  He reached out a gloved hand and laid it on Yuuki's upper arm.  Zangetsu trailed his fingers down the back of Yuuki's arm, then they caught Yuuki's elbow and tugged at it.  "Come here. . . ."

Yuuki slid closer to him, moving across the silken sheets easily, then he leaned forward on one elbow and looked down into the masked face.  Zangetsu let his hand drop and exhaled through his teeth with a hiss.  The sound lit a flame of desire inside Yuuki.  

"Zangetsu, you. . . you torment me," he whispered.

"Why?"  The younger man reached up his hand and grasped one of Yuuki's strands of hair, twisting it around his fingers.  Zangetsu's lips curved up in a teasing smile.  "Do you want me, Yuuki?"

Yuuki could lie to him no more than he could to Opticon.  "My God, yes. . . ."

Zangetsu tugged on Yuuki's hair, drawing his head down.  When he spoke, Yuuki could feel Zangetsu's breath on his own mouth.  "I want you too."

Zangetsu put his free hand up to Yuuki's cheek, then he lifted his head just enough to put his lips against Yuuki's.  Yuuki began to tremble but opened his mouth; in an instant, Zangetsu's tongue was inside.

Yuuki heard himself moan as his eyes fell shut.  He moved his own tongue over Zangetsu's, tasting wine and beneath it what might have been the floral tobacco Zangetsu smoked.  Zangetsu's hands left Yuuki's face, and the younger man put his arms around Yuuki, pulling him down.  Yuuki lowered himself to lie with his chest against Zangetsu's and their legs side by side as they kissed.

Finally Yuuki lifted his head, breathing heavily.  Zangetsu's face was flushed as he looked up, his mouth still open.  The urge to kiss him again nearly overwhelmed Yuuki, and he struggled to keep control of himself.  Zangetsu didn't make that job any easier as he began to pull off Yuuki's tie.

"Zangetsu," Yuuki panted, "you're. . . I had no idea."

Zangetsu's gloved fingers paused in their task, and he raised his eyes to Yuuki's face.  "You had no idea about what?"

"That you liked men. . . that you liked _me_."  
  
The younger man gave a final tug on Yuuki's tie, tossing it aside when it was free.  "I like you very much, Yuuki. . . even though you know as well as I do that affection can be a liability for us."  Zangetsu's fingers moved downward to start on the buttons of Yuuki's green shirt.  "Now that I've been alone with you, though, I'm willing to take the risk."

Yuuki shivered when he felt the touch of Zangetsu's gloves against his chest.  "So am I," he breathed, then he fumbled at the white scarf about the younger man's neck.  Zangetsu's neck was covered by his mask, but the black fabric stopped just above his clavicle.  Yuuki bent his head to caress the delicate skin over the protruding bone, and at Zangetsu's resulting moan, he hurried to unbutton the younger man's shirt.

All the while, Yuuki tried not to dwell on the ramifications of what they were doing.  Affection _was_ a liability for the Magnificent Ten; it was a weakness that could be used against them.  Even if Yuuki's feelings for Zangetsu were never exploited, he would always be in danger of losing his lover to the fate that had claimed Cervantes, Alberto, and Fitzgerald.

But, like Zangetsu, Yuuki was willing to risk future pain for his happiness now.

After he laid Zangetsu's shirt open, Yuuki ran his hands over the younger man's bare chest.  Zangetsu's shoulders were broad but not thick, and his torso tapered in to a narrow waist.  Yuuki trailed his fingertips down Zangetsu's sternum, admiring him.

"Yuuki. . . ."  Zangetsu squirmed then reached up and pushed Yuuki's shirt off his shoulders.  Yuuki waited for Zangetsu's reaction to his stooped figure, but the younger man only pulled Yuuki closer, clutching his back as they kissed again.  The younger man tugged off his gloves, and Yuuki felt Zangetsu's bare hands in his hair, then on his back, then moving lower still.

\--

Before they slept that night, Yuuki and Zangetsu lay beside one another, Zangetsu's arm draped over Yuuki's waist.  Zangetsu had rested his head against Yuuki's shoulder, and now Yuuki laid his cheek on the younger man's dark hair.

"Yuuki," Zangetsu said after they had been still for a while, "do you want to see my face?"

"I thought no one _ever_ saw it."  Yuuki drew back enough to look at Zangetsu.  "You don't have to, just because we. . . um. . . ."

Zangetsu smiled a little.  "That wasn't why I asked.  Sleeping with you is one thing, but. . . ."  This time he was the one to trail off, but he continued, "Yuuki, I don't _just_ want to sleep with you-- I want to _be_ with you.  And it isn't fair to you if you don't even know what I look like."

"It doesn't matter what you look like," Yuuki said, adding mentally, _Opticon was right about that too._   "I-- I'm yours, Zangetsu, I swear it."  He laid his hand against Zangetsu's jaw, his fingers resting on the fabric of the mask.  "But to answer your question-- I want to see your face, if you're sure that is what _you_ want."

Zangetsu took Yuuki's hand and kissed its palm, then he sat up.  "Yes, it's what I want."  He grasped the edge of the mask at his throat and pulled it up, working it over his chin then sweeping it off his face altogether.  He looked down at Yuuki, his hair rumpled and apprehension in the eyes Yuuki could finally see clearly.

"Well?"

"You're really cute."  It was the first thought that came into Yuuki's head, and as puerile as it sounded, he blurted it out anyway.  It was true as well: Yuuki saw nothing for Zangetsu to hide.  The familiar shape of his face-- the high cheekbones and smooth brow-- framed unmarred skin and wide, intense dark eyes.  Yuuki had expected scarring, a tattoo, _something_ Zangetsu was covering up, but he found nothing.

Yuuki sat up as well, gazing into the younger man's face.  "I won't question your choices, but I don't understand the mask."  
  
Zangetsu smiled at him again, and the expression lit up his eyes.  "I'll tell you why someday, Yuuki, I promise.  But for tonight-- you really think I'm. . . cute?"

"Well, yes."  Yuuki gave an embarrassed laugh.  "I'm sorry for not expressing myself more eloquently, but. . . you are very attractive."  He was startled when Zangetsu leaned forward and kissed him.

"If you're satisfied, that's enough for me," Zangetsu murmured.

\--

To be continued


	6. Chapter 6

The next morning, Yuuki was less eager to skip breakfast.  He awoke to Zangetsu caressing his neck, and it was some time before they went to the conference room to eat.  There Yuuki took his time with his coffee after they had both finished their unappetizing breakfast.

Not only was Yuuki enjoying Zangetsu's company even more than before, but he also wasn't ready to see Opticon.  Besides having to apologize for his behavior, Yuuki would have to explain Zangetsu's plan and ask for the eye creature's help. . . and after that, Yuuki and Zangetsu would return to the rest of the Magnificent Ten.

_We'll have to explain our absence to them,_ Yuuki thought.  _And we'll have to hide. . . this._   He reached over and took one of Zangetsu's gloved hands, which rested on the table.  Zangetsu, now masked again, smiled and laced their fingers together.

"Are you all right, Yuuki?" he asked.

"Yes, I was just thinking."  Yuuki swallowed the last of his coffee and looked down at their hands.  "About when we get back home."

"Mmn.  About how to be discreet, you mean?"  Yuuki looked up in surprise that Zangetsu knew his thoughts so well.

"Well, yes.  You were right when you said affection can be a liability, but. . . I want to be with you too, Zangetsu.  I'm not giving you up, not after--"

Zangetsu prompted him when he stopped midsentence.  "Not after what?"

Yuuki flushed.  ". . . After admiring you for so long."

"Yuuki. . . ."  Zangetsu lifted his hand and kissed his fingertips.  "I wouldn't _let_ you give up on me.  We can still be discreet though. . . until we're alone, anyway."  He chuckled and squeezed Yuuki's hand.

"I think I can adjust my sleep schedule a bit so that happens more often."  Yuuki smiled back, in fact finding it much easier to smile than before.  "I'm getting used to sleeping at night."

"And I'm getting used to sleeping with you beside me."  Zangetsu stood and pulled on Yuuki's hand until the older man got to his feet and took Zangetsu in his arms.  
  
Yuuki kissed him, tilting his head to avoid Zangetsu's mortarboard, then he sighed.  "We should go down to Opticon.  I still want to tell him our plans today, and ask for his help."

"Do you want me to stay behind?" Zangetsu asked, drawing back just enough to meet Yuuki's eyes.  "I know Opticon dislikes me.  Would he be more willing to accept our request if you were alone?"

Yuuki thought that things really _might_ go better without Zangetsu there-- but his emotions overruled his better sense.

"No, come with me."  Yuuki held Zangetsu against him again, trailing his fingers up and down the masked man's back.  "We're partners in this, and Opticon will have to get used to that."

"Mmn."  Zangetsu tilted his head to put his lips to Yuuki's jaw, just before his ear.  "I like being your partner, Yuuki."  
  
They went down to Opticon's cell in silence, Zangetsu smoking on the way.  Yuuki's tension grew as they entered the room holding the eye creature; this was the whole purpose of their visit to the Tunguska Base, and Yuuki would see Opticon's refusal as a personal failure.  _And I wouldn't only be failing Zangetsu. If Opticon refuses, it means I couldn't earn his trust._   Though he wasn't sure why, Yuuki found that a dismal thought.

When the two members of the Magnificent Ten reached the cell, Yuuki dismissed the guards as usual.  By now, they were used to their superiors' visits to Opticon, and they left without even their usual apprehensive looks.  Once they were gone, Yuuki met Zangetsu's eyes, silently asking the younger man if he were sure he wanted to go forward with the plan.

When Zangetsu nodded, Yuuki descended into the cell. Opticon's eye rolled toward him, and Zangetsu crouched cautiously on the edge of the cell's pit.  Yuuki put his hand on one of Opticon's tentacles and met the gaze of the giant blue-green eye.

_Opticon?  I'm sorry I left you abruptly yesterday.  It was rude of me._

Opticon's veined lid lowered and rose, and his response amazed Yuuki.  _No, it was my transgression.  I did not mean to offend you by speaking so bluntly.  I did not like seeing you unhappy, and I wanted to help you._

_Thank you. . . ._   Yuuki looked over at Zangetsu; the masked man was gazing at them, but a slight smile curved his lips when he met Yuuki's eyes.  Yuuki's heart pulsed with warmth, and Opticon's tentacle twitched under his hand.

_As I told you when we first met,_ Yuuki went on, _we-- that is, Zangetsu and I-- need your help, Opticon.  I want to tell you about our project and to ask for your aid._

_You trust me now._   It was not a question but an observation.

_Yes.  Opticon. . . do **you** trust **me**?  I must tell you now, we have no reward or payment to give you for helping us._

_My freedom is the only reward that interests me._   The eye lowered with a look of both impatience and exhaustion, then it moved back to Yuuki.  _What do you ask of me?  I trust you, Yuuki, but I must know what you want from me._

Yuuki took a slow breath and began to explain in the same way as he had described Big Fire to Opticon: with images, for words were too slow and clumsy.  He told the eye creature what he knew of the first GR Project, of Dr. Kusama's creation of GR-1 and the BF Group's consequent loss of the machine.  Yuuki also shared what little he knew of Zangetsu's role in the project.  As much as he wanted to show Zangetsu in a positive light, Yuuki was determined to be fully honest. . . and so he admitted that Zangetsu had headed the GR Project.

Opticon broke into Yuuki's explanation. _So your Zangetsu lost this great weapon for your organization. . . and one of your own died as a result?_

Yuuki gritted his teeth but made himself reply calmly.  _I do not know the details.  Zangetsu has not told me, and I was not present when he defended himself to his superiors.  If Zangetsu himself were directly responsible for the loss of GR-1 to Kusama's son, I do not feel he would have later been asked to join the Magnificent Ten.  And as for Cervantes's death-- I cannot believe Zangetsu was to blame._

Opticon said nothing, but Yuuki could sense his distrust of Zangetsu-- mostly for Yuuki's sake, not his own.  _Opticon really does care about me,_ Yuuki realized.

_Opticon, I trust Zangetsu,_ Yuuki said to him, gently, _even though there are things I don't know about him.  There is much I haven't told him about myself too, because we humans get to know one another slowly.  That's how relationships develop._   He stroked Opticon's tentacle as he "spoke."

_All right._   The eye looked up at him with what seemed to be affection.  _Go on._

Yuuki tried to pick up his lost train of thought.  _Well. . . now our liaison with our lord Big Fire-- Koumei the Tactician-- has spoken of reviving the GR Project.  He revealed this after the crisis of a few days ago.  We do not know just what his plans are, but all of us Magnificent Ten believe he means to bring GR-1 back under the BF Group's control.  This concerns us, especially Zangetsu and myself, because of GR-1's power.  We fear that Koumei secretly intends to use this power to subdue us._

_Mmn, I understand._   Opticon's eye drifted away in thought.  _You Magnificent Ten have many of these large robots of your own, do you not?_

_Yes.  However, Koumei rendered our robots powerless the last time we tried to use them-- and Zangetsu believes he may do so again.  I'm afraid Zangetsu could be right._

Opticon said nothing else for some time.  Yuuki waited, and finally the eye creature spoke again.  _I believe I already know what you want from me.  You want me to fight for you against this robot-- GR-1._

Yuuki swallowed and nodded.  _Yes, Opticon.  It may not be necessary, but if Koumei turns GR-1 against us. . . Zangetsu and I want your help in fighting him.  No one could drain your power as you are organic-- and what's more,  you are sentient and could act on your own without commands from us.  That is why Zangetsu and I believe you could defeat GR-1 in a battle._

Opticon's eye pierced Yuuki's gaze.  _And you say I will have my freedom in exchange for my promise to aid you?_

Yuuki gazed back into the blue-green eye, then he looked down at the steel bands holding Opticon in place.  _Opticon. . . I can't let you stay here in this prison.  I will secure your freedom whether you promise or not-- in fact, I will free you today if that's what you wish.  No, I ask for your help as a friend. . . not as part of a bargain._

For the first time, Opticon seemed to be truly stunned.  He was silent at first, twitching his tentacles, then he asked, _What about Zangetsu?_   _Does he know you are going to release me?_

_No, but. . . ._   Yuuki lowered his eyes, remembering against his will the night spent with Zangetsu in his arms.  He hoped he was speaking the truth when he answered, _Zangetsu will agree if I ask him to allow it._

Opticon's tentacle thrashed under Yuuki's touch.  _You will free me today and trust that I will come to your aid later?  Do you trust me like **that** , Yuuki?_

_Yes, Opticon._

_Then I will help you, Yuuki.  You **and** Zangetsu._   When Yuuki looked back into Opticon's eye, its expression had softened.  _And. . ._ _I promise I will protect him as I would you.  Because you love him._

Yuuki flushed deeply but did not deny the statement.   _Thank you, Opticon._   _There's just one more thing. . . where will you go when we release you?  How can I reach you if we should need your aid?_

_Hmm, maybe I'll just follow your airplane back to the rest of the Magnificent Ten._  The lids around Opticon's eye crinkled in unexpected humor.  _Or would that spoil the surprise?_

_I'm afraid it rather would._   Yuuki gulped, hoping Opticon wasn't really serious.  _If Koumei found out about you, he might develop countermeasures against you. . . ._

_Yes, of course.  No, I believe I will stay here in this place. . . Siberia, as you call it.  I understand that the weather is uncomfortable to you humans, but it does not affect me.  I can find food here as well.  I haven't needed to replenish my energy in all these years of sedation. . . but it will be good to eat again._

Yuuki decided not to ask what Opticon ate. _That is satisfactory.  There is no human life nearby outside of this base, so you will be safe here.  And when we need you, should I contact the base?  They could signal to you._

_That won't be necessary._   Opticon's tentacle shifted under Yuuki's hand, and its tip lifted to curl around the human's fingers.  _You have only to call for me.  I can hear your call even without ears, Yuuki: yesterday, I knew when you spoke to the insects of this place. . . and I knew when you called for your Zangetsu.  I will be able to hear you even when you are on the other side of this planet._

Somehow, this did not surprise Yuuki.  In fact, it seemed almost natural to know that such a thing was possible between them.  What's more, Yuuki was not uncomfortable with the knowledge; it made him feel safer. . . and less lonely.

Yuuki squeezed Opticon's tentacle in his fingers then let it drop.  "Zangetsu?"

"Yes?"  The younger man lowered himself into the cell, and Yuuki turned to him.

"Opticon has agreed.  We will set him free into Siberia today, and if-- or when-- we need his help in the future, I will call for him."

"Set him free. . . today?"  Zangetsu's blank eyes might have flicked to look at Opticon, but Yuuki couldn't be sure.

"I trust him, Zangetsu," Yuuki said.  "And he said that he would protect you as he would me."

"Why?"  At Zangetsu's continued questions, Opticon's tentacles stirred behind Yuuki.  "Why would he want to protect _me_?"

"Because. . . ."  Yuuki felt his cheeks grow warm, and he could not speak as bluntly as Opticon had.  "Because I care for you, Zangetsu.  He'll do it for my sake."

Zangetsu moved closer to Yuuki, and after a glance up out of the cell, took the older man's hands in his.  "Yuuki, if you trust him to keep his word, then I will trust him as well.  We will order the guards to release him."

"Thank you, Zangetsu."  Yuuki was startled that the younger man had agreed so easily, but apparently Zangetsu had as much faith in him as Opticon did.  It was a strange thing, to be trusted so completely.

\--

As soon as they left Opticon, Yuuki and Zangetsu sought out the base's commander and ordered the eye creature's release.  The commander was visibly discomfited, and he even went so far as to ask if Big Fire himself had requested that Opticon be freed.  Yuuki dodged the question but then further commanded that the Tunguska Base was not to alert anyone of Opticon's release-- not even the rest of the Magnificent Ten.  That made the commander act more nervous than ever, but he had no choice but to obey.  
  
"Every one of them is afraid Opticon will attack," Zangetsu murmured as he and Yuuki stood on the catwalk, watching the entire fleet of guards gather around Opticon's cell with their weapons drawn.  The commander had ordered their presence as he opened the steel bands confining the eyeball creature, via the control panel on the catwalk.  "And if he did, they wouldn't stand a chance.  It took many more of my troops to bring him in the first time."

"He won't attack."  Yuuki looked down into the cell as the steel bands creaked open and Opticon began to stretch his tentacles.  After a moment of this, the eye creature crawled from his prison, stiff and weak as he hauled his pod-shaped body out of the cell.  A murmur rippled through the guards, and they fell back slightly to give the creature room.

Yuuki turned to where the base's commander stood at the control panel, awaiting further orders.

"Open the outer door-- let him out."

"Y-yes, sir," mumbled the commander.  He pulled another lever, and an enormous aircraft hangar door groaned open in the left wall of the building that had held Opticon for years.  The eye creature made his way towards the door, dragging himself across the floor on his tentacles.

Once Opticon reached the door, Yuuki whispered to Zangetsu, "Shall we dismiss the guards?  I'd like us to have our final words with him privately."

Zangetsu gave him one last searching look, but then he nodded and called to the commander, "Tell the guards to fall back.  We'll follow Opticon outside ourselves."

The commander stared at them, then the incredulous look on his face turned to one of relief.  "Yes sir."

As he shouted the order down to the guards, Yuuki led Zangetsu down the catwalk's stairs, and they followed Opticon out the hangar door.  The white, cold sunlight made Yuuki squint when he first emerged, and Opticon's great eye was tightly closed as he pulled himself forward on a few tentacles.  Zangetsu stood at Yuuki's side, and they watched Opticon open his eye bit by bit, letting it adjust to the sunlight it hadn't seen in so long.

But then Yuuki saw that something else was happening, too: the majority of Opticon's tentacles, at first dragged limply after him, were shifting now and twining together.

"Zangetsu, look," Yuuki murmured.  As the two men watched, the tentacles bound together more tightly into two masses, until they resembled gnarled stumps.

"Yuuki. . . ."  Zangetsu's hand closed over Yuuki's arm, and he drew the older man back a few steps.  Yuuki realized that Zangetsu expected an impending attack, yet Yuuki himself still trusted the eye creature's word.

Finally the tentacles were still, except for a few trailing from Opticon's body.  These writhed and braced themselves on the ground, and one of the stumps began to move as a single entity.  Yuuki stared as Opticon drew it up to his body. . . and then stood on it, rising as he got the other under him as well.

"Legs."  Zangetsu's mouth was actually hanging open.  "An eyeball. . . with legs."

Suddenly Opticon's amused thoughts were in Yuuki's mind again despite the dozen yards between them.  _Yes, I can fly only at night.  Something in your sun's light reacts with my body, and I must walk under its exposure._  
  
The giant eye creature hobbled in a circle until he faced the two members of the Magnificent Ten.  _Goodbye for now, Yuuki.  Thank you for granting me my freedom. . . and for your love of another creature without a voice._

_Thank **you** for your help,_ Yuuki replied. _I hope it will not be required. . . but I fear for the future of the BF Group.  I will call for you should we need you._

Opticon gave a sort of nod, bowing his pod-like body before raising his eye to look at the empty sky.  Though he did not speak again, Yuuki sensed that Opticon yearned to fly up into it, to get far from the base as soon as possible.  Instead, the eye creature turned away and trudged to the fence bordering the compound.  He stepped over it easily, more sure-footed now on his new legs.  The last Yuuki saw of him, Opticon was lumbering into the forest surrounding the base.

"Let's go home, Zangetsu," Yuuki muttered, lowering his head so his lover couldn't see the sadness on his face.  "We can't put off explaining ourselves to the Magnificent Ten.  It will only be harder if we wait."

"Yuuki."  Zangetsu turned to Yuuki and wrapped his arms around the other man, warming him even in the frigid air that cut through their suits.  Zangetsu held Yuuki, his mouth resting against the curve of tendons where Yuuki's neck met his shoulder.  "I'll tell them the truth-- as much as I can.  That it was all my doing, that I dragged you off to inspect the base where I used to be stationed."

"No, I came with you willingly.  We'll face them together, Zangetsu."  Yuuki pulled the younger man with him, back towards the base.  "Come in, before you freeze. . . ."

Inside the great room now empty of guards, Yuuki stopped at the empty cell.  Although Opticon was within the reach of his mind's voice, Yuuki missed his physical presence.  Zangetsu stood beside Yuuki, and after a moment, his gloved fingers laced through the older man's.

"Why is Opticon so important to you, Yuuki?  You said he's like one of your moths. . . but you never look this sad when a moth flies away."

"He listened to me," Yuuki said.  "He wanted to know who I was-- not as the Twilight of the Magnificent Ten, but just as Yuuki.  And he saw beauty in me. . . just as Yuuki."

"I see beauty in you too," said Zangetsu quietly, "both as the Twilight _and_ as Yuuki-- fierce in battle and gentle at peace.  That is what drew me to you."

Yuuki lifted his head to look at Zangetsu.  The masked man was gazing down at the cell too, his handsome face in profile to Yuuki's view.

_Why should I be sad now?_ Yuuki realized.  _I could be a world away from Opticon, but I'll always be able to reach him.  And I **do** have Zangetsu with me, here and now._

"Zangetsu. . . ."  When the younger man looked up, Yuuki drew him close and brushed Zangetsu's mouth with his.  "My Midday."  
  
"Mmn. . . ."  Zangetsu caught Yuuki's head in his free hand and kissed him deeply.  "My Twilight.  You were right; we should go home.  And if-- or when-- Koumei turns on us, we'll be ready."

Their hands were still clasped as the two went to get their things and start the long flight back to the rest of the Magnificent Ten.

\--

The End


End file.
